An acclaimed biography of Alexander the Great wins the Baillie Gifford nonfiction prize

LONDON (AP) — An “immersive” biography of Alexander the Great won the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction on Wednesday, in the latest sign of booming interest in the world of ancient Greece.Edmund Richardson’s “Alexander: God, King, Man” was named winner of the 50,000 pound ($67,000) prize at a ceremony in London.British journalist Kirsty Lang, who chaired the judging panel, said the book is the first work of ancient history to win the prize and “reads like a novel.”“It’s very immersive. You really feel that you’re there on the battlefield, marching across Central Asia and Egypt with Alexander,” she said. “And it contains a lot of new research,” including Richardson’s translations of sources from 12 ancient languages.Richardson, a professor of classics at Durham University in England, spent a decade – “far too long, down far too many rabbit holes” – researching the life of Alexander, who inherited a debt-ridden Macedonian kingdom at 20, conquered territory stretching from