7 ^' W. F; ^2 a8 z塞缪尔·约翰逊奖是一个面对世界各国学者的非小说类英文作品的文学奖项，奖金为两万英镑。 . V Q% ?! B+ A2 E1 c4 `, P/ i+ [' C : I1 E, t( O4 A* s; T # R* U9 ?; t6 y4 B9 a! q1 ~ Y' I/ O) Y* d. {0 a- t
冯克是为数不多获准使用中国历史档案的外国学者之一。 ) l' n2 ? o! Q* }7 @! x1 f. H- ]) I* E% w& I, k
Mao's Great Famine wins Samuel Johnson Prize8 X! m. O( z$ v& i6 g
, c% Z' H) ]: D. d0 bA book about China's disastrous Great Leap Forward policy has won the £20,000 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction." k) y/ _5 A; V. }
0 P- n @ z% t3 A) sMao's Great Famine, by Dutch historian Frank Dikotter, beat five other short-listed titles to the award. 0 _& h: c f; H* N! D" ` ) S4 O/ [8 W% e8 \* D. h' BChair of the judges Ben Macintyre praised the book as an "epic record of human folly". " {# {' j. m" G5 j( ]# g8 ]+ R7 n) p; g) _& R1 J
He added it was "essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the history of the 20th Century". / ^% l) W& i% i6 c4 h" J) k; T1 J' j& J1 C" e
Mao's Great Famine reveals new details of the period from 1958-1962, providing fresh historical perspectives on Mao's campaign to increase industrial production during which tens of millions starved to death.9 C* N1 \& i3 f: U
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The academic - currently chair of professor of humanities at the University of Hong Kong - was one of a small number of historians to be given access into the Chinese archives.) W' N9 ?. |& U" D
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This year's runners-up were Andrew Graham Dixon's Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane, Maya Jasanoff's Liberty's Exiles, Matt Ridley's The Rational Optimist, Jonathan Steinberg's Bismarck: A Life, and John Stubbs' Reprobates. + S% v( N% Z$ j+ |: E . E% N8 L, ]; @$ c/ FThey each received £1,000. / q. M% H4 V% Y! ?2 a0 j9 _8 S: J J8 }& v3 Y# r- K! p+ ~ N
The prize was open to non-fiction books published in English by writers of any nationality between 1 May 2010 and 30 April 2011.
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