Opening with a quote from Paul Monet, “Grief is a sword, or it is nothing”, France’s book chronicles how the activist community fought to develop the drugs that would turn HIV into a largely treatable condition. “It’s an incredibly visceral, personal story of someone who was a young gay man in the 80s in New York as the Aids epidemic developed. On a wider level it is the story of how society reacted to [the illness], and the enormous prejudice against gay men. “These are profound, thoughtful pieces of work, which are all about us now, even when they’re works of history,” he said. It is very important to have these books.”The Baillie Gifford prize, formerly known as the Samuel Johnson award, has been won in the past by, among others, Philippe Sands and Helen Macdonald.

Source: The Guardian November 16, 2017 22:07 UTC