Among those who bemoaned the change of rules were a number of British novelists. Why did they assume their American counterparts were better? Or if they thought Americans were just different, why did they assume judges would prefer the game the Americans were playing?

This year marks the first time that any book written in English was eligible for the Man Booker prize. In The Telegraph, Gaby Wood asks why Brits were so worried about the competition from across the pond.