Dalrymple in Samuel Johnson prize longlist

William Dalrymple is among the 19 authors named for the Samuel Johnson prize longlist.

The longlist was announced on April 22. BBC presenter Evan Davis, who is chairing this year's judges, called it an "unusual and eclectic longlist of terrific books".

The prize, which awards the best in English language non-fiction,  is now in its 12th year. The list includes 19 books, whittled down from 138 submissions. The winner will be named in July and will receive £20,000.

The list:

Alex Bellos - Alex's Adventures in Numberland
Andrew Ross Sorkin - Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street
Jenny Uglow - Charles II, A Gambling Man
Richard Wrangham - Catching Fire: How Cooking made us Human
Frances Stoner Saunders - The Woman who Shot Mussolini
David Kynaston -  Family Britain 1951-1957
Nick Bunker - Making Haste from Babylon.
Sara Wheeler -  The Magnetic North
Stewart Brand - Whole Earth Discipline
Philip Ball -  The Music Instinct
Hilary Spurling - Burying the Bones;
Said Sayrafiezadeh - When Skateboards will be Free
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o -  Dreams in a Time of War
Joe Moran - On Roads
Luke Jennings - Blood Knots
Edward Hollis - The Secret Lives of Buildings
Peter Hessler - Country Driving
Barbara Demick - Nothing to Envy
William Dalrymple - Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India