To mark the 40th Anniversary of the prize, a panel of judges was asked to select a shortlist of the best books to have won the prize in the previous four decades. For the first time in the prize’s history, the overall winner was selected by an online public vote.
Salman Rushdie was named winner of the Best of the Booker award for Midnight’s Children with 36 per cent of the votes.
Rushdie commented: ‘Marvellous news! I’m absolutely delighted and would like to thank all those readers around the world who voted for Midnight’s Children.’
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Slaman Rushdie acceptance speech video