Tech books dominate FT Book of the Year contest

The promise and perils of technology dominate the long list for this year’s Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.

Andrew Hill of the FT writes, “The 15 titles include Ashlee Vance’s Elon Musk , a biography of the charismatic entrepreneur behind the Tesla electric car, Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper, on the development of the virtual currency bitcoin, and The Rise of the Robots , by Martin Ford, about jobs and automation.

“Only one technology book has won the prize before — The Everything Store , about Amazon, in 2013. But this year’s tech contenders also include: How Music Got Free , Stephen Witt’s story of how online piracy nearly brought down the recording industry; Losing the Signal , by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, about the rise and fall of BlackBerry; and Steve LeVine’s investigation of how battery science is advancing, The Powerhouse .

“Also in the running this year is Anne-Marie Slaughter’s keenly awaited Unfinished Business , due out next month. Slaughter’s book about how to narrow the gender gap is certain to reignite debate about the alternative vision laid out by Sheryl Sandberg, author of 2013 finalist Lean In.”

Read more here .