‘Black Spartacus,’ Beatles book vie for nonfiction prize

LONDON – Books about a Haitian revolutionary, The Beatles and the brain are finalists for Britain’s leading nonfiction literary award.

Contenders announced Thursday for the 50,000-pound ($65,000) Baillie Gifford Prize include Sudhir Hazareesingh’s “Black Spartacus,” a biography of Toussaint Louverture, who led a slave uprising that sparked Haitian independence in the 18th century; Craig Brown’s “One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time” and Matthew Cobb’s “The Idea of the Brain.”

Also on the shortlist ate Christina Lamb’s book about women and war, “Our Bodies, Their Battlefield”; Amy Stanley’s “Stranger in the Shogun’s City,” about a woman’s life in 19th-century Japan; and fact-based ghost story “The Haunting of Alma Fielding,” by Kate Summerscale.

The award recognizes English-language books in current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts.

The winner will be announced at a digital ceremony on Nov. 24.