Anand Gopal's book on Syrian revolution shortlisted for Baillie Gifford Prize
A book reconstructing the Syrian revolution through the lives of six people in the northern city of Manbij has been shortlisted for the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. Anand Gopal's Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Revolution is one of six books competing for the £50,000 prize, with the winner to be announced on November 4. Published in March, Days of Love and Rage grew out of eight…
Anand Gopal's book "Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Revolution" detailing the Syrian uprising through six individuals in the city of Manbij has been shortlisted for the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. The £50,000 prize, awarded in November, features six competing works, with the winner announced on November 4. Gopal, who spent eight years researching and interviewing over 2,000 people, began working on Manbij in 2017.
The book follows the residents as they establish new political and civic institutions after government forces withdrew in 2012. However, divisions and armed groups led to ISIS taking control in 2014. The shortlisted books also include "Baldwin: A Love Story" by Nicholas Boggs, "London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth" by Patrick Radden Keefe, "Alexander: God, King, Man" by Edmund Richardson, "The Great Dictator: A Life of Barbara Cartland" by Matthew Sweet, and "The Traveller: The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and his Search for Humanity" by Andrea Wulf.
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