Author Helen Macdonald has won the £20,000 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for her book about how becoming a falconer helped her deal with grief.
H is for Hawk - described as "a book unlike any other" by the chair of the judging panel - is the first memoir to win the award, now in its 16th year.
In it Macdonald reveals how training her own goshawk helped her come to terms with the death of her father.
The poet and historian beat five other titles, three of them by women.
This year's shortlist, which included a biography of Roy Jenkins and a look at life in Vichy France, marked the first time female authors had outnumbered their male counterparts.
