FT/McKinsey reveal 'varied' shortlist for £30k Business Book of the Year

Penguin Random House and Pan Macmillan dominate the six-strong shortlist for the £30,000 Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. The themes of the "varied" shortlist encompass Universal Basic Income, scandal in Silicon Valley and wealth inequality in India.

All of the shortlisted titles come from PRH and Pan Mac with the exception of one title from independent Oneworld. They are: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, by John Carreyrou (Picador); The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India's New Gilded Age, by James Crabtree (Oneworld); Capitalism in America: A History by Alan Greenspan and Adrian Wooldridge (Allen Lane); Give People Money: The Simple Idea to Solve Inequality and Revolutionise our Lives, by Annie Lowrey (WH Allen); The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy  by Mariana Mazzucato, (Allen Lane); and New Power: How It's Changing The 21st Century - And Why You Need To Know by Henry Timms and Jeremy Heimans (Pan Macmillan).

FT editor Lionel Barber said: "This year’s shortlist covers the most pressing matters facing business today. It reminds us of how books make complex ideas accessible with riveting narrative, fine writing and in-depth research. From the Universal Basic Income to new power structures in the modern economy, and scandal in Silicon Valley to India, this year’s titles raise the hard questions from the boardroom to the shop floor."

Rik Kirkland, McKinsey's director of publishing, added: "What’s striking is how varied both the voices and topics on this year’s shortlist are. Collectively, they probe a rich set of questions and offer some preliminary answers that should help political and corporate leaders struggling to cope with the good, the bad, and the ugly of creative destruction."

The award, celebrating a work which provides "the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues", will be awarded at the National Gallery on 12th November. 

Last year Amy Goldstein took the £30,000 prize for Janesville: An American Story (Simon & Schuster). The authors of shortlisted books for the Business Book of the Year Award 2018 will be awarded £10,000.