THE CRIME WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION®

THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

The CWA is the professional body of all crime writers, and this includes not only novelists but also those who write about true crime, from investigative journalism to historical research. In 1978, the CWA instituted the Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction award, and for the two years 1978 and 1979 also awarded the CWA Silver Dagger for Non-Fiction to the runner-up.

Between 1995 and 2002, this award was sponsored by The Macallan and renamed The MACALLAN Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. In 2008, the award was sponsored by Owatonna Media. Between 2006 and 2010 it was been awarded evey other year, in even-numbered years, but in 2011 it returned as an annual award. It is chosen by a panel of judges with a publishing and / or legal background.

For more information about the winning books listed below, click the appropriate year.

The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

2011: The Killer of Little Shepherds (Simon & Schuster) - Douglas Starr

2010: Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing & the Families’ Pursuit of Justice (Harvill Secker) - Ruth Dudley Edwards

2008: Nationality: Wog - The Hounding of David Oluwale (Jonathan Cape) - Kester Aspden

2006: The Dagenham Murder (The Borough of Barking and Dagenham) - Linda Rhodes, Lee Shelden and Kathryn Abnett

2005: On the Run (Hutchinson) - Gregg and Gina Hill

2004 Jointly: Cosa Nostra (Hodder & Stoughton) - John Dickie
The Italian Boy (Jonathan Cape) - Sarah Wise

2003: Pointing from the Grave (Hamish Hamilton) - Samantha Weinberg

The Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

2002: Dead Man's Wages (Picador) - Lillian Pizzichini

2001: The Infiltrators (Michael Joseph) - Philip Etienne and Martin Maynard with Tony Thompson

Earlier Winners

2000: Mr Blue - Edward Bunker

1999: The Case of Stephen Lawrence - Brian Cathcart

1998: Cries Unheard - Gitta Sereny

1997: The Jigsaw Man - Paul Britton

1996: The Gunpowder Plot - Antonia Fraser

1995: Dead Not Buried - Martin Beales

The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

1994: Criminal Shadows - David Canter

1993: Murder in the Heart - Alexandra Artley

1992: The Reckoning - Charles Nicholl

1991: Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair - John Bossy

1990: The Passing of Starr Faithfull - Jonathan Goodman

1989: A Gathering of Saints - Robert Lindsay

1988: The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln - Bernard Wasserstein

 

1987: Perfect Murder - Bernard Taylor / Stephen Knight

1986: Evil Angels - John Bryson

1985: Killing for Company - Brian Masters

1984: In God's Name - David Yallop

1983: Double Dealer - Peter Watson

1982: Earth to Earth - John Cornwell

1981: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number - Jacobo Timerman

1980: Conspiracy - Anthony Summers

1979: Rachman - Shirley Green

1978: The Mystery of the Princes -Audrey Williamson

The CWA Silver Dagger for Non-Fiction

1979: Fraud - Jon Connell / Douglas Sutherland

1978: The Capture of the Black Panther - Harry Hawkes