Naipaul Bio in Running for Samuel Johnson

The shortlist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction sponsored by BBC4 has been announced. This from The Guardian :

Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher
With a few thousand dollars in his boots, the author sets about recreating Stanley's expedition

Crow Country Crow Country by Mark Cocker
A celebration of Norfolk, its oceanic flatness, its immense skies and its human intimacies

The Whisperers by Orlando Figes
Drawing on letters, memoirs, conversations, this work tells how Russians endured life under Stalin

The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul by Patrick French
An account of the writer's life

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross
A survey of the cacophony of the 20th century

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
In 1860, a Kent family wakes to a horrific discovery: a gruesome murder has taken place in their own home ...

The money's on the Naipaul biography to win - bookies William Hill have it as 5/4 favourite. More comment on the shortlist here, while Claire Armistead who is judging the prize this year talks about how she copes with the tower blocks of books by her bed.

The winner will be announced on the 15th July.