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The oldest of the major British literary prizes was founded in 1919 by Miss Alice Warrender. It is awarded annually to an English writer for "the best work of imaginative literature," which is liberally interpreted and thus may include biography, travel, art history, etc, as well as fiction and drama. There is no competition; books do not have to be, and in fact cannot be, submitted. A panel of judges decides the winner. Young authors are particularly encouraged. The current value of the prize is £10,000.
| 1919 | Edward Shanks The Queen of China |
| 1920 | John Freeman Poems Old and New |
| 1921 | Romer Wilson The Death of Society |
| 1922 | Edmund Blunden The Shepherd |
| 1923 | David Garnett Lady Into Fox |
| 1924 | Ralph Hale Mottram This Spanish Farm |
| 1925 | Sean O'Casey Juno and the Paycock |
| 1926 | Victoria Sackville-West The Land |
| 1927 | Henry Williamson Tarka the Otter |
| 1928 | Siegfried Sassoon Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man |
| 1929 | Lord David Cecil The Stricken Deer |
| 1930 | Geoffrey Dennis The End of the World |
| 1931 | Kate O'Brien Without My Cloak |
| 1932 | Charles Morgan The Fountain |
| 1933 | Victoria Sackville-West Collected Poems |
| 1934 | James Hilton Lost Horizon |
| 1935 | Robert Graves I, Claudius |
| 1936 | Evelyn Waugh Edmund Campion |
| 1937 | Ruth Pitter A Trophy of Arms |
| 1938 | David Jones In Parenthesis |
| 1939 | Christopher Hassall Penthesperon |
| 1940 | James Pope-Hennessy London Fabric |
| 1941 | Graham Greene The Power and the Glory |
| 1942 | John Llewllyn Rhys England is My Village |
| 1943 | Sidney Keyes The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel |
| 1944 | Martyn Skinner Letters to Malaya |
| 1945-57 |
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| 1958 | Dom Moraes A Beginning |
| 1959 |
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| 1960 | Alan Sillitoe The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner |
| 1961 | Ted Hughes Lupercal |
| 1962 | Robert Shaw The Sun Doctor |
| 1963 | Alistair Horne The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 |
| 1964 | V. S. Naipaul Mr. Stone and the Knights Companions |
| 1965 | William Trevor The Old Boys |
| 1966 |
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| 1967 | Michael Frayn The Russian Interpreter |
| 1968 | Michael Levey Early Renaissance |
| 1969 | Geoffrey Hill King Log |
| 1970 | Piers Paul Read Monk Dawson |
| 1971-73 |
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| 1974 | Oliver Sacks Awakenings |
| 1975 | David Lodge Changing Places |
| 1976 | Robert Nye Falstaff |
| 1977 | Bruce Chatwin In Patagonia |
| 1978 | David Cook Walter |
| 1979 | P. S. Rushforth Kindergarten |
| 1980 | Christopher Reid Arcadia |
| 1981 | Douglas Dunn St. Kilda's Parliament |
| 1982 | Timothy Mo Sour Sweet |
| 1983 | Jonathan Keates Allegro Postillions |
| 1984-87 |
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| 1988 | Colin Thubron Behind the Wall |
| 1989 | Alan Bennett Talking Heads |
| 1990 | Kit Wright Short Afternoons |
| 1991 | Claire Tomalin The Invisible Woman |
| 1992 | Ferdinand Mount Of Love and Asthma |
| 1993 | Anderw Barrow The Tap Dancer |
| 1994 | Tim Pears In the Place of Fallen Leaves |
| 1995 | James Michie The Collected Poems |
| 1996 | Hilary Mantel An Experiment in Love |
| 1997 | John Lanchester The Debt to Pleasure |
| 1998 | Charles Nicholl Somebody Else |
| 1999 | Antony Beevor, Stalingrad |
| 2000 | Michael Longley, The Weather in Japan |
| 2001 | Helen Simpson, Hey Yeah Right Get a Life |
| 2002 | Eamon Duffy, The Voices of Morebath |
| 2003 | William Fiennes, The Snow Geese |
| 2004 | Jonathan Bate, John Clare: A Biography |
| 2005 | Justin Cartwright, The Promise of Happiness |
| 2006 | Alexander Masters, Stuart: A Life Backwards |
| 2007 | M. J. Hyland, Carry Me Down |
| 2008 | Nicola Barker, Darkmans |
| 2009 | Patrick French, The World Is What It Is |
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