Six 'compelling' titles contend for FT Business Book award

Six titles on topics ranging from the making of the iPhone to the evolution of financial markets have made it onto The Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Business Book of the Year shortlist.

Two titles published by Princeton University Press have made the cut: Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought, by Andrew W. Lo and The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century, by Walter Scheidel. Two from Penguin Random House’s stables are also in contention: The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Maths Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History, by David Enrich (W H Allen) and The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone, by Brian Merchant (Bantam Press). The final two titles to have made the shortlist are Janesville: An American Story, by Amy Goldstein, published by Simon & Schuster and Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen Pao, (Spiegel & Grau).

The winning author, to be announced at a dinner ceremony in New York on 6th November at the Lotte New York Palace, will receive £30,000 and the five shortlisted writers will each be given £10,000.

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, said: “After an exceptionally robust debate on a wide ranging long list, we have chosen six titles on topics that range from the making of the iPhone to the evolution of financial markets. These books offer a compelling insight into today's business trends.”

Vivian Hunt, McKinsey & Company's managing partner, UK & Ireland, added: “This is a thought-provoking shortlist. The books span an impressive range of topics, styles and insights. They really capture the extent of the economic and social disruption we face today, and highlight the big global challenges governments, business and society need to confront.”

The judging panel, chaired by Barber, includes: Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman of Mozilla, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor for Allianz; Herminia Ibarra, The Charles Handy Visiting Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School, Rik Kirkland, partner and director of publishing, McKinsey & Company, Randall Kroszner, Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Dambisa Moyo, global economist and author, non-executive director, Barrick Gold, Barclays, Chevron, and Seagate Technology and Shriti Vadera, chairman, Santander UK.