Cundill History Prize

History writing award

Award

Cundill History Prize

Awarded for| History writing
Country| Canada
Presented by| McGill University
First awarded| 2008 (2008)
Website| www.cundillprize.com

The Cundill History Prize is an annual Canadian book prize for "the best history writing in English".[1] It was established in 2008 by Peter Cundill and is administered by McGill University.[2][3] The prize encourages "informed public debate through the wider dissemination of history writing to new audiences around the world" and is awarded to an author whose book, published in the past year, demonstrates "historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal". No restrictions are set on the topic of the book or the nationality of the author, and English translations are permitted.[1][4]

At a value of US$75,000, the grand prize is the largest prize in the world for a work of non-fiction.[5][6] In addition, two "Recognition of Excellence" prizes of $10,000 each are awarded. For translated works, 80% of the prize goes to the author, and 20% goes to the translator.[4] The winners of the prizes are selected by a jury of prominent historians and writers chosen by McGill.[7] The Cundill Prize has been called "the closest approximation to a Nobel Prize for history".[8]

## History

[edit]

The Cundill International Prize in History was announced on April 17, 2008, at McGill University by Peter Cundill, a London-based investment manager and graduate of McGill. A grand prize of US$75,000, as well as two "Recognition of Excellence" prizes of $10,000, would be awarded once a year to authors whose books were "determined to have a profound literary, social and academic impact on the subject". Books were required to be published in English or French. Cundill said that he "was surprised to learn there were no major prizes in history" and added that "I'm an investment researcher of finance and I think there's an analogy between the two disciplines – both study the past to understand the present and predict the future."[2][3][9] The inaugural prize in November 2008 was administered by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at McGill, along with the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC).[10]

In 2010, the prize was renamed the Cundill Prize in History.[11] Cundill died on January 24, 2011,[12] and the 2011 prize was limited to books that were published in English.[13] The prize was retitled again in 2013 as the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature,[14] and the partnership with MISC continued up to 2016.[15] McGill relaunched the prize for its 10th year in 2017: it was renamed the Cundill History Prize, and the prize's logo and website design were overhauled.[16]

## Recipients

[edit]

Year  | Winner  | Finalists  | Jury

|
|
|

2008  | Stuart B. Schwartz[17] | All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World | Harold J. Cook[18] | Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age | Angela Schottenhammer, Denise Chong, Natalie Zemon Davis, Roger Chartier, Serge Joyal, and Timothy Aitken[19]
Peter Fritzsche[18] | Life and Death in the Third Reich
2009  | Lisa Jardine[20][21] | Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory | David Hackett Fischer[22] | Champlain's Dream | Angela Schottenhammer, Denise Chong, Kenneth Whyte, Roger Chartier, Serge Joyal, and Timothy Aitken[23]
Pekka Hämäläinen[22] | The Comanche Empire
2010  | Diarmaid MacCulloch[11][24] | A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years | Giancarlo Casale[25] | The Ottoman Age of Exploration | Adam Gopnik, Catherine Desbarats, Charles R. Kesler, Kenneth Whyte, and Lisa Jardine[26]
Marla R. Miller[25] | Betsy Ross and the Making of America
2011  | Sergio Luzzatto[13][27] | Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age[a] | Maya Jasanoff[29] | Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World | Anthony Cary, Catherine Desbarats, Jeffrey Simpson, Ramachandra Guha, and Stuart B. Schwartz[30]
Timothy Snyder[29] | Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
2012  | Stephen R. Platt[31][32] | Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War | Steven Pinker[33] | The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes | Charles R. Kesler, Garvin Brown, Jeffrey Simpson, and Vanessa Ruth Schwartz[34]
Andrew Preston[33] | Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy
2013  | Anne Applebaum[14] | Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 | Christopher Clark[35] | The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 | Anthony Cary, Garvin Brown, Marla R. Miller, Sergio Luzzatto, and Thomas H. B. Symons[36]
Fredrik Logevall[35] | Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
2014  | Gary J. Bass[37][38] | The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide | Richard Overy[39] | The Bombing War: Europe, 1939–1945 | Althia Raj, David Frum, Marla R. Miller, Stuart B. Schwartz, and Thomas H. B. Symons[40]
David Van Reybrouck[39] | Congo: The Epic History of a People[b]
2015  | Susan Pedersen[42][43] | The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire | Sven Beckert[44] | Empire of Cotton: A Global History | Anna Porter, Anthony Cary, Chad Gaffield, David Frum, and Maya Jasanoff[45]
Bettina Stangneth[44] | Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer[c]
2016  | Thomas W. Laqueur[47][48] | The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains | David Wootton[49] | The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution | Anna Porter, David Frum, John Darwin, and Timothy Brook[50]
Andrea Wulf[49] | The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World
2017  | Daniel Beer[51][52] | The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars | Christopher Goscha[53] | Vietnam: A New History | Margaret MacMillan (chair), Amanda Foreman, R. F. Foster, Rana Mitter, and Jeffrey Simpson[54]
Walter Scheidel[53] | The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century
2018  | Maya Jasanoff[55][56] | The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World | Caroline Fraser[57] | Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder | Mark Gilbert (chair), Carol Berkin, Caroline Elkins, Peter Frankopan, and Jeffrey Simpson[58]
Sam White[57] | A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe's Encounter with North America
2019  | Julia Lovell[59][60] | Maoism: A Global History | Mary Fulbrook[61] | Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice | Alan Taylor (chair), Charlotte Gray, Robert Gerwarth, Jane Kamensky, and Rana Mitter[62]
Jill Lepore[61] | These Truths: A History of the United States
2020  | Camilla Townsend[63][64] | Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs | Vincent Brown[65] | Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War | Peter Frankopan (chair), Anne Applebaum, Lyse Doucet, Eliga Gould, and Sujit Sivasundaram[66]
William Dalrymple[65] | The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
2021  | Marjoleine Kars[67][68] | Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast | Rebecca Clifford[69] | Survivors: Children's Lives After the Holocaust | Michael Ignatieff (chair), Eric Foner, Henrietta Harrison, Sunil Khilnani, and Jennifer L. Morgan[70]
Marie Favereau[69] | The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World
2022  | Tiya Miles[71][72] | All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake | Ada Ferrer[73] | Cuba: An American History | J. R. McNeill (chair), Misha Glenny, Martha S. Jones, Yasmin Khan, and Kenda Mutongi[74]
Vladislav M. Zubok[73] | Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union
2023  | Tania Branigan[75][76] | Red Memory: Living, Remembering and Forgetting China's Cultural Revolution | James Morton Turner[77] | Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future | Philippa Levine (chair), Marie Favereau, Adam Gopnik, Eve M. Troutt Powell, Sol Serrano, and Coll Thrush[78]
Kate Cooper[77] | Queens of a Fallen World: The Lost Women of Augustine's Confessions
2024  | Kathleen DuVal[79][80] | Native Nations: A Millennium in North America | Gary J. Bass | Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia | Rana Mitter (chair), Nicole Eustace, Moses Ochonu, Rebecca L. Spang, and Stephanie Nolen[81]
Dylan C. Penningroth | Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights

## See also

[edit]

* List of history awards

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Translated from Italian by Frederika Randall.[28]
2. ^ Translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett.[41]
3. ^ Translated from German by Ruth Martin.[46]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "About". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
2. ^ a b Adams, James (April 17, 2008). "Canadian establishes world's largest historical non-fiction prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
3. ^ a b "Former Montrealer sets up $75,000 prize for history writing". CBC News. April 18, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
4. ^ a b "Submit". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
5. ^ Anderson, Porter (November 8, 2023). "Canada's $75,000 Cundill Prize Winner 2023: Tania Branigan". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
6. ^ "Chinese history title wins Cundill". BookBrunch. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
7. ^ "Finding the Next Cundill History Prize Winners". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
8. ^ Duggan, Lawrence G. (March 2023). "Review of Contesting Orthodoxies in the History of Christianity: Essays in Honour of Diarmaid MacCulloch. Studies in Modern British Religious History, by E. Gebarowski-Shafer, A. Null, & A. Ryrie". Anglican and Episcopal History. 92 (1): 116–118 [116]. ISSN 0896-8039. JSTOR 27223460.
9. ^ "Largest literary prize in history makes history". Channels - McGill University. April 17, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
10. ^ "McGill announces winner of inaugural Cundill International Prize in History". Channels - McGill University. November 25, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
11. ^ a b Agrell, Siri (November 14, 2010). "British church historian wins McGill's Cundill Prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
12. ^ Fine, Philip (February 17, 2011). "Peter Cundill found wealth where others feared to tread". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
13. ^ a b "Italian historian wins $75K Cundill Prize". CBC News. November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
14. ^ a b Robertson, Becky (November 21, 2013). "Anne Applebaum wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature". Quill & Quire. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
15. ^ "The Work of the Dead wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature". Newsroom - McGill University. November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
16. ^ Pymm, Francesca (May 19, 2017). "$75k Cundill History Prize relaunched". The Bookseller. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
17. ^ Adams, James (November 26, 2008). "McGill's first Cundill history prize goes to Yale scholar". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
18. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
19. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
20. ^ Barber, John (November 3, 2009). "British historian wins Cundill non-fiction prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
21. ^ "U.K. author wins $75,000 US Cundill History Prize". CBC News. November 2, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
22. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
23. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
24. ^ "British professor wins Cundill literary prize". CBC News. November 15, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
25. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
26. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
27. ^ Medley, Mark (November 14, 2011). "Sergio Luzzatto wins 2011 Cundill Prize in History". National Post. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
28. ^ Stille, Alexander (October 25, 2012). "The Strange Victory of Padre Pio". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
29. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
30. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
31. ^ "Stephen Platt wins $75K Cundill Prize in History". CBC News. November 30, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
32. ^ Jinje, Safa (December 3, 2012). "Stephen Platt wins 2012 Cundill Prize in History at McGill". Quill & Quire. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
33. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
34. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
35. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
36. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
37. ^ Medley, Mark (November 21, 2014). "Gary Bass wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
38. ^ Keeler, Emily M. (November 20, 2014). "Gary J. Bass awarded Cundill Prize for Historical Literature". National Post. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
39. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
40. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
41. ^ Ledgard, J. M. (May 1, 2014). "History's Stranglehold". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
42. ^ Medley, Mark (November 3, 2015). "Susan Pedersen wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
43. ^ "Susan Pedersen, Canadian Columbia University prof, wins $75K Cundill Prize for Historical Literature". CBC News. The Canadian Press. November 3, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
44. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
45. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
46. ^ Aschheim, Steven (September 4, 2014). "SS-Obersturmbannführer (Retired)". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
47. ^ Wheeler, Brad (November 17, 2016). "Thomas W. Laqueur wins Cundill Prize for The Work of the Dead". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
48. ^ Van Koeverden, Jane (July 13, 2017). "Cultural historian Thomas Laqueur wins $75K US 2016 Cundill Prize". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
49. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
50. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
51. ^ Hampton, Chris (November 16, 2017). "British historian Daniel Beer wins 2017 Cundill History Prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
52. ^ Van Koeverden, Jane (November 17, 2017). "Daniel Beer wins $75K US history writing prize for The House of the Dead". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
53. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
54. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
55. ^ "Harvard professor Maya Jasanoff wins McGill's Cundill History Prize". The Globe and Mail. November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
56. ^ Van Koeverden, Jane (November 16, 2018). "Maya Jasanoff wins history writing prize, worth $75K U.S., for Joseph Conrad biography". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
57. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
58. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
59. ^ "British scholar Julia Lovell wins McGill-run history prize for book on Maoism". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
60. ^ Van Koeverden, Jane (November 15, 2019). "British author Julia Lovell's book about Maoism wins $98K historical nonfiction prize". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
61. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
62. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
63. ^ "American scholar Camilla Townsend wins Cundill History Prize for Aztec book Fifth Sun". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. December 3, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
64. ^ "American author Camilla Townsend wins $100K Cundill History Prize for her book about ancient Aztecs". CBC.ca. December 3, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
65. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
66. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
67. ^ "University of Maryland professor Marjoleine Kars wins McGill-run Cundill History Prize". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. December 2, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
68. ^ Qiao, Vicky (December 2, 2021). "Historian Marjoleine Kars wins $95K historical writing prize for book about a 'dramatic' 1763 slave revolution". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
69. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
70. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
71. ^ Wheeler, Brad (December 1, 2022). "Tiya Miles' slavery story All That She Carried wins the Cundill History Prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
72. ^ Manfredi, Nikky (December 5, 2022). "Harvard professor Tiya Miles wins $102K historical writing prize for book about Black American resilience". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
73. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
74. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
75. ^ "Tania Branigan takes home Cundill History Prize for book on China's Cultural Revolution". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
76. ^ Creamer, Ella (November 8, 2023). "Tania Branigan's Red Memory wins 2023 Cundill history prize". The Guardian. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
77. ^ a b "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
78. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
79. ^ "Kathleen DuVal wins $104K historical writing prize for book about Indigenous sovereignty". CBC.ca. October 31, 2024. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
80. ^ Anderson, Porter (October 31, 2024). "Kathleen DuVal Wins the $75,000 Cundill History Prize". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
81. ^ "Recognising & rewarding the best history writing". Cundill Prize. Retrieved October 31, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Cundill History Prize

* All Can Be Saved by Stuart B. Schwartz (2008)
* Going Dutch by Lisa Jardine (2009)
* A History of Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch (2010)
* Padre Pio by Sergio Luzzatto (2011)
* Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom by Stephen R. Platt (2012)
* Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum (2013)
* The Blood Telegram by Gary J. Bass (2014)
* The Guardians by Susan Pedersen (2015)
* The Work of the Dead by Thomas W. Laqueur (2016)
* The House of the Dead by Daniel Beer (2017)
* The Dawn Watch by Maya Jasanoff (2018)
* Maoism by Julia Lovell (2019)
* Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend (2020)
* Blood on the River by Marjoleine Kars (2021)
* All That She Carried by Tiya Miles (2022)
* Red Memory by Tania Branigan (2023)
* Native Nations by Kathleen DuVal (2024)

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