A Nobel laureate who dedicated her award to fighting antisemitism is among the writers longlisted for this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize, the UK’s most prestigious award for non-fiction.

Svetlana Alexievich, from Belarus, who last year won the Nobel Prize in literature, is one of 10 writers to be nominated for the £30,000 Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction for her book Second-hand Time which explores life in the Soviet Union.

Also among the nominees are Jewish authors Ben Judah and Philippe Sands. Mr Judah is longlisted for This is London, an investigation of the capital city’s changing immigrant population.

Mr Sands earned his nomination for East West Street, which chronicles the origins of international law, with a heavy focus on the Nuremberg Trial.

The other authors on the list are Laura Cumming, Charles Foster, Simon Ings, Margo Jefferson, Hisham Matar Siddhartha Mukherjee and Frances Wilson.

Stephanie Flanders, chair of the judges, said: “Shortly after committing to judge this award I found I had an overwhelming – and deeply unhelpful – urge to read fiction.

“But each of these 10 very different books takes you on a journey that is as engrossing and imaginative as any novel. They aim high, and deliver. I am not looking forward to having to choose between them.”

The shortlist will be announced on October 17, with the winner unveiled the following month.