Biography book of the year

Biography is a sprawling genre, which can be difficult for the lay person to keep track of. Those who love historical biographies are not necessarily interested in, say, philosophical biographies or sporting biographies, and these books might not even be displayed in the same area of a bookshop—rather being distributed on the shelves relating to their subjects’ areas of expertise.

Nevertheless, heavyweight new biographies do attract a good amount of media coverage—and the best of the genre are highlighted by high profile literary prizes. Here we’ve put together a list of the biographies that won big in 2024.

The 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Biography

The Pulitzer Prize for Biography, for example, is announced every May. This year, two biographies were awarded Pulitzers. They were King: A Life by Jonathan Eig, and Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo.

King: A Life is a new biography of Martin Luthe