The shortlists for the 2011 Orwell Prize - which is dedicated to rewarding those who come closest to achieving George Orwell's ambition "to make political writing into an art" - have been announced.

They are divided into three categories - books, journalism and blogs - and each winner can expect a prize of £3,000.

So, let's begin with the six shortlisted books, selected from a record entry of 213:

Tom Bingham, The Rule of Law (Allen Lane); Oliver Bullough, Let Our Fame Be Great: Journeys Among the Defiant People of the Caucasus (Penguin); Helen Dunmore, The Betrayal (Fig Tree); Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22 (Atlantic Books); Afsaneh Moqadam, Death to the Dictator! (Bodley Head); and D.R. Thorpe, Supermac: The Life of Harold MacMillan (Chatto & Windus)

There are seven journalists on the shortlist from another record field, totalling 87:

Philip Collins, a Times columnist and leader writer; Amelia Gentleman, who writes on social affairs for The Guardian; Catherine Mayer, the London bureau chief for Time magazine; Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times; Jenni Russell, a columnist, notably for the Sunday Times and The Guardian; Rachel Shabi , an Israel-based freelance who writes for The Guardian; Declan Walsh, The Guardian's correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

There are also seven bloggers on the shortlist, selected from 205 entries, yet another record:

Cath Elliott Too Much To Say For Myself; Daniel Hannan Telegraph blog; Duncan McLaren Visiting Mabel; Graeme Archer ConservativeHome; Molly Bennett Mid-Wife Crisis; Paul Mason Idle Scrawl; and Heresiarch Heresy Corner.

The winners will be announced on 17 May.