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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Booker Prize
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The British literary prize which has achieved the highest profile, being the first to offer a large sum of money (£5000 when first awarded in 1969, more than £20,000 in the 1990s) and the first to announce the winner on television (from 1981). It is awarded each autumn to a novel published in the previous 12 months and written in English by a member of the *Commonwealth. The six books on the short list, announced a few weeks before the award ceremony, are given considerable prominence in bookshops and have odds offered on them by bookmakers. The sales of the winning novel are greatly increased – the similar effect in France of prizes such as the Prix Goncourt was part of the inspiration for the scheme in the 1960s. The prize is financed by *Booker, the food production company.
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