CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
Encyclopedia
The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is a British literary award established in 1978 by the Crime Writers' Association
, who have awarded the Gold Dagger
fiction award since 1955.
In 1978 and 1979 only there was also a silver award. From 1995 to 2002 it was sponsored by The Macallan
(Scotch whisky
brand) and known as The Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. In 2008 the award was sponsored by Owatonna Media (a London-based literary brand investor and owner). Between 2006 and 2010 it was awarded every other year, in even-numbered years, but in 2011 it returned as an annual award.. The prize is now a cheque for £1,000 and a decorative dagger.
2010
2008
2006
2005
2004
Joint winners
from its 1860s beginnings)Sarah Wise, The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830s London (The Italian Boy murder, London, 1831)
Rebecca Gowers, The Swamp of Death: A True Tale of Victorian Lies and Murder (Death of Frederick Benwell, young Englishman who set off for Canada in 1890 and was found dead in a swamp shortly after arriving)
Steve Holland
, The Trials of Hank Janson (Censorship of crime writer Hand Janson in 1940s Britain)
Mende Nazer
and Damien Lewis, Slave: The True Story of a Girl's Lost Childhood and her Fight for Survival (Mende Nazer
's own story)
2003
2002
2001
2000
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1978
Crime Writers' Association
The Crime Writers Association is a writers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Peter James and claims 450+ members....
, who have awarded the Gold Dagger
Gold Dagger
The Gold Dagger Award was an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association for the best crime novel of the year.For its first five years, the organization's top honor was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award....
fiction award since 1955.
In 1978 and 1979 only there was also a silver award. From 1995 to 2002 it was sponsored by The Macallan
The Macallan
The Macallan is a brand of single malt Scotch whisky first distilled in 1824 at The Macallan Distillery near Easter Elchies House, at Craigellachie, in Moray...
(Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
brand) and known as The Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. In 2008 the award was sponsored by Owatonna Media (a London-based literary brand investor and owner). Between 2006 and 2010 it was awarded every other year, in even-numbered years, but in 2011 it returned as an annual award.. The prize is now a cheque for £1,000 and a decorative dagger.
2000s
2011- Douglas Starr, The Killer of Little Shepherds (The crimes and conviction of the nineteenth century French serial murderer Joseph VacherJoseph VacherJoseph Vacher was a French serial killer, sometimes known as "The French Ripper" or "L'éventreur du Sud-Est" due to comparisons to the more famous Jack the Ripper murderer of London, England in 1888...
)
2010
- Ruth Dudley Edwards, Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing & the Families’ Pursuit of Justice (The successful civil case taken against the suspects for the Omagh bombingOmagh bombingThe Omagh bombing was a car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army , a splinter group of former Provisional Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, on Saturday 15 August 1998, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Twenty-nine people died as a...
)
2008
- Kester Aspden, Nationality: Wog - The Hounding of David Oluwale (Death of David OluwaleDavid OluwaleDavid Oluwale was an African immigrant to Britain whose subsequent death in 1969 was the first known incident of racist policing allegedly leading to the death of a Black person...
in Leeds in 1969) - Francisco GoldmanFrancisco GoldmanFrancisco Goldman is an American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Trinity College. He is workshop director at , the journalism school for Latin-America created by Gabriel García Márquez...
,The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi (Death of Juan José Gerardi ConederaJuan José Gerardi ConederaMonsignor Juan José Gerardi Conedera was a Guatemalan Roman Catholic bishop and human rights defender who was beaten to death two days after releasing a report on victims of the Guatemalan Civil War.-Early life:...
in Guatemala in 1998) - David Rose, Violation: Justice, Race and Serial Murder in the Deep South (Case of Carlton GaryCarlton GaryCarlton Michael Gary is an American serial killer convicted of the murders of elderly women in Columbus, Georgia from 1977-1978. He is believed responsible for several more in Albany and Syracuse, New York....
, sentenced to death in 1986 in Georgia, USA) - Duncan Staff The Lost Boy (Keith Bennett, victim of the Moors MurdersMoors murdersThe Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—at least...
, England, 1964) - Kate SummerscaleKate SummerscaleKate Summerscale is an award-winning English writer and journalist.She is the author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House which won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction 2008, and the bestselling The Queen of Whale Cay, about Joe Carstairs, 'fastest woman on water',...
, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House (Murder in 1860 in Somerset, England, to which Constance Kent confessed) - Peter Zimonjic, Into the Darkness: 7/7 (First-hand account of the 7 July 2005 London bombings7 July 2005 London bombingsThe 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
)
2006
- Linda Rhodes, Lee Shelden and Kathryn Abnett, The Dagenham Murder: The Brutal Killing of PC George Clark, 1846 (Murder of policeman George Clark in 1846 in Dagenham, London)
- Sebastian JungerSebastian JungerSebastian Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian, most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, his award-winning chronicle of the war in Afghanistan in the 2010 movie Restrepo, and his 2010 book War.-Background:Junger was born...
, A Death in Belmont (Boston StranglerBoston StranglerThe Boston Strangler is a name attributed to the murderer of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in the early 1960s. Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, investigators of the case have since suggested the murders were not committed by one person.-First Stage...
murders of 1962-64 in USA) - Nuala O'FaolainNuala O'FaolainNuala O'Faolain was an Irish journalist, TV producer, book reviewer, teacher and author. She became internationally well-known for her two volumes of memoir, Are You Somebody? and Almost There; a novel, My Dream of You; and a history with commentary, The Story of Chicago May...
, The Story of Chicago May (Irish-born international criminal Chicago MayChicago MayChicago May , was a notorious female international criminal. She died in 1929 at age 59.-Further reading:...
, born May Duignan) - Sister Helen PrejeanHelen PrejeanSister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., is a Roman Catholic religious sister, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, who has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.-Death row ministry:...
, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions (Executions of Dobie Gillis WilliamsDobie Gillis WilliamsDobie Gillis Williams was convicted and executed in Louisiana for the murder of Sonja Knippers. In 2005, Williams was one of two subjects of a book by anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean...
(1999) and Joseph O'Dell in USA) - William QueenWilliam QueenWilliam "Billy" Queen Jr. is a retired undercover agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives , and the author of the bestselling books Under and Alone and Armed and Dangerous....
, Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle GangUnder and AloneUnder and Alone is a book written by undercover ATF agent William Queen and published by Random House in 2005 which chronicles his infiltration of the violent outlaw motorcycle gang the Mongols.-Synopsis:...
(First-hand account of infiltrating MongolsMongols (motorcycle club)The Mongols Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is a "one-percenter" motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate. The club is headquartered in southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California in 1969 by Hispanic Vietnam War veterans...
gang in USA) - Sue Williams, And Then the Darkness: The Fascinating Story of the Disappearance of Peter Falconio and the Trials of Joanne Lees (Disappearance of Peter FalconioPeter FalconioPeter Marco Falconio was a British tourist who disappeared in the Australian outback in July 2001, while travelling with girlfriend Joanne Lees and is nowpresumed dead....
in Australia, 2001)
2005
- Gregg and Gina Hill, On The Run: a Mafia childhood (By the children of Henry Hill, American mobster)
- Bella Bathurst,The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights, and Plundered Shipwrecks. (WreckingWrecking (shipwreck)Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...
off the UK coast) - Eric JagerEric JagerEric Jager is an American literary critic and a specialist in medieval literature. He is a professor in the department of English at University of California, Los Angeles, received his B.A. from Calvin College in 1979, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1987...
, The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France (Trial by combat of Jean de CarrougesJean de CarrougesSir Jean de Carrouges IV was a fourteenth century French knight who governed estates in Normandy as a vassal of Count Pierre d'Alençon and served under Admiral Jean de Vienne in several campaigns against the English and the forces of the Ottoman Empire...
, France, 1386) - Sadakat KadriSadakat KadriSadakat Kadri is a lawyer, author, travel writer and journalist. One of his foremost roles as a barrister was to assist in the prosecution of former Malawian president Hastings Banda. As a member of the New York Bar he has worked as a volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union...
, The Trial: a history from Socrates to O. J. Simpson (History of trialsTrial (law)In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
). - James OwenJames Owen (British author)-Biography:Owen was born in Holland Park, London, and was educated at Eton College and University College, Oxford. After a brief period as a barrister, he worked for The Daily Telegraph newspaper as a journalist from 1995 until 2001...
, A Serpent in Eden: The Greatest Murder Mystery of All Time (Murder of Harry OakesHarry OakesSir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet was an American-born British Canadian gold-mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. He was murdered in 1943 under notorious circumstances in the Bahamas...
in Nassau, Bahamas, in 1943)
2004
Joint winners
- John Dickie,
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
from its 1860s beginnings)
Steve Holland
Steve Holland was an American actor and male paperback, magazine, and fashion model. Holland played Flash Gordon in the 1954 television series of the same name. The television show ran 39 episodes...
, The Trials of Hank Janson (Censorship of crime writer Hand Janson in 1940s Britain)
Mende Nazer
Mende Nazer is a British author and human rights activist. For eight years, she was a slave in Sudan and in London.-Abduction:Nazer is a Nuba from a village in the Nuba mountains of Sudan. At the age of twelve or thirteen , she was abducted and sold into slavery in Sudan following a slaving raid...
and Damien Lewis, Slave: The True Story of a Girl's Lost Childhood and her Fight for Survival (Mende Nazer
Mende Nazer
Mende Nazer is a British author and human rights activist. For eight years, she was a slave in Sudan and in London.-Abduction:Nazer is a Nuba from a village in the Nuba mountains of Sudan. At the age of twelve or thirteen , she was abducted and sold into slavery in Sudan following a slaving raid...
's own story)
2003
- Samantha WeinbergSamantha WeinbergSamantha Fletcher is a British Green politician, and under her maiden name of Samantha Weinberg, a novelist, journalist and travel writer. Educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Trinity College, Cambridge, she is the author of books such as A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth and...
, Pointing from the Grave: a True Story of Murder and DNA (Murder of Helena Greenwood in 1985 in California and early use of DNA profiling to identify her killer 15 years later) - Michael Bilton, Wicked Beyond Belief: the Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (Peter SutcliffePeter SutcliffePeter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
, serial killer convicted in 1981) - Erik Larson, Devil In The White City:Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed AmericaThe Devil in the White CityThe Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style. The book is based on real characters and events. Leonardo DiCaprio purchased the film rights in 2010.The book is set in Chicago circa...
(Serial killer H. H. HolmesH. H. HolmesHerman Webster Mudgett , better known under the alias of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, was one of the first documented American serial killers in the modern sense of the term...
and the 1893 Chicago World's FairWorld's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, USA) - Chandak Sengoopta, Imprint of the Raj: the Colonial Origin of Fingerprinting and Its Voyage to Britain (The science of fingerprintFingerprintA fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
ing, developed in India and first used in court in England in 1902) - Donald ThomasDonald ThomasDonald Serrell Thomas is an English author of Victorian-era historical, crime and detective fiction, as well as books on factual crime and criminals, in particular several academic books on the history of crime in London...
, An Underworld at War: Spivs, Deserters, Racketeers and Civilians in the Second World War (Events in Britain during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) - Peter Walsh, Gang War: the Inside Story of the Manchester Gangs (Contemporary gangs in ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
)
2002
- Lillian Pizzichini, Dead Man's Wages: the secrets of a London conman and his family (Life of conman Charlie Taylor, the author's grandfather)
- Miranda CarterMiranda CarterMiranda Carter is a British writer and biographer. She was educated at St Paul's Girls School and Exeter College, Oxford.Her first book was a biography of the art historian and spy Anthony Blunt, entitled Anthony Blunt: His Lives...
, Anthony Blunt, His Lives (Anthony BluntAnthony BluntAnthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
(1907-1983), British spy and art historian) - Don HaleDon HaleDon Hale OBE is a British journalist.He was the editor of the Matlock Mercury who became involved in the campaign to overturn the murder conviction of Stephen Downing. In 1973, Downing, at the time a 17-year-old with the reading age of an 11-year-old, was imprisoned for the murder of Wendy Sewell...
(with Marika Huns & Hamish McGregor), Town Without Pity: the Fight to Clear Stephen Downing of the Bakewell Murder (Stephen Downing, jailed for murder in 1974, conviction overturned in 2002) - Special mention: Julian Earwaker & Kathleen Becker, Scene of the Crime: a Guide to the Landscapes of British Detective Fiction (Judged to be outside the scope of the award but worthy of commendation)
2001
- Philip Etienne and Martin Maynard (with Tony Thompson), The Infiltrators: the First Inside Account of Life Deep Undercover with Scotland Yard's Most Secret Unit (Two members of SO10SO10SO10 was the former designation of the Metropolitan Police's Covert Operations Group.-History:The group's origins can be traced back to 1960, with the formation of what was known as the Criminal Investigation Branch, which later evolved and was merged into SO10 and the Public Order Unit...
, the Metropolitan Police's undercover unit) - Zacaria Erzinçlioglu, Maggots, Murder and Men: Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist (Forensic entomologyForensic entomologyForensic entomology is the application and study of insect and other arthropod biology to criminal matters. It is primarily associated with death investigations; however, it may also be used to detect drugs and poisons, determine the location of an incident, and find the presence and time of the...
) - Adrian WealeAdrian WealeAdrian Weale is a British writer, journalist, illustrator and photographer of Welsh origin. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, University of York and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.- Biography :...
, Patriot Traitors: Roger Casement, John Amery and the Real Meaning of Treason (Roger CasementRoger CasementRoger David Casement —Sir Roger Casement CMG between 1911 and shortly before his execution for treason, when he was stripped of his British honours—was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary, and nationalist....
and John AmeryJohn AmeryJohn Amery was a British fascist who proposed to the Wehrmacht the formation of a British volunteer force and made recruitment efforts and propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany...
, the only Britons to be executed for high treason in the 20th century)
2000
- Edward BunkerEdward BunkerEdward Heward Bunker was an American author of crime fiction, a screenwriter, and an actor. He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films....
, Mr. Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade (The author's own story of a life of crime)
1990s
1999- Brian Cathcart, The Case of Stephen Lawrence
1998
- Gitta SerenyGitta SerenyGitta Sereny is an Austrian-born biographer, historian and investigative journalist whose writing focuses mainly on the Holocaust and child abuse. She is the stepdaughter of the economist Ludwig von Mises....
, Cries Unheard
1997
- Paul Britton, The Jigsaw Man
1996
- Antonia FraserAntonia FraserLady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
, The Gunpowder Plot
1995
- Martin Beales, Dead Not Buried
1994
- David CanterDavid CanterDavid V. Canter is a psychologist. He began his career as an architectural psychologist studying the interactions between people and buildings, publishing and providing consultancy on the designs of offices, schools, prisons, housing and other building forms as well as exploring how people made...
, Criminal Shadows: Inside the Mind of the Serial Killer
1993
- Alexandra Artley, Murder in the Heart
1992
- Charles NichollCharles Nicholl (author)Charles Nicholl is an award-winning English author specializing in works of history, biography, literary detection, and travel. His subjects have included Christopher Marlowe, Arthur Rimbaud, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Nashe, and most recently William Shakespeare. Besides his literary output,...
,The Reckoning
1991
- John Bossy, Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair
1990
- Jonathan Goodman, The Passing of Starr Faithfull
1980s
1989- Robert LindseyRobert Lindsey (journalist)Robert Lindsey is a journalist and author of several true crime books, including The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage , the story of Christopher John Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who were both convicted of selling information to the Soviets...
, A Gathering of Saints:a true story of money, murder and deceit
1988
- Bernard WassersteinBernard WassersteinBernard Wasserstein is a professor of history. Wasserstein was born in London, and educated at the High School of Glasgow and at Wyggeston Boys' Grammar School, Leicester. He gained a BA in Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford University in 1969.Wasserstein's main area of interest is Jewish...
, The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln
1987
- Bernard Taylor/Stephen Knight, Perfect Murder
1986
- John BrysonJohn Bryson (author)John Bryson, is an Australian author and former lawyer. He has authored works of fiction, biography and other non-fiction.- Career :...
, Evil Angels
1985
- Brian MastersBrian MastersBrian Masters is British writer best known for his biographies of mass murderers. He has also written about the British aristocracy and worked as a translator....
, Killing for Company
1984
- David YallopDavid YallopDavid Anthony Yallop is an agnostic British author who writes chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s he also contributed scripts for a number of BBC comedy shows...
, In God's Name
1983
- Peter Watson, Double Dealer: How five art dealers, four policemen, three picture restorers, two auction houses and a journalist plotted to recover some of the world's most beautiful stolen paintings
1982
- John CornwellJohn Cornwell (writer)John Cornwell is an English journalist and author, and a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for various books on the papacy, most notably Hitler's Pope; investigative journalism; memoir; and the public understanding of science and philosophy. More recently he has been concerned...
, Earth to Earth
1981
- Jacobo TimermanJacobo TimermanJacobo Timerman was an Argentine publisher, journalist, and author who was persecuted and honored for confronting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War...
, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number
1980
- Anthony SummersAnthony SummersAnthony Bruce Summers is the non-fiction author of seven best-selling investigative books. He is an Irish citizen, and has been working for some twenty years with Robbyn Swan, who is now his co-author and fifth wife...
, Conspiracy
1970s
1979- Shirley Green, Rachman
1978
- Audrey Williamson, The Mystery of the Princes