Cundill Prize
The Cundill History Prize (formerly the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature[1]) was founded in 2008 by Peter Cundill to recognize and promote literary and academic achievement in history. The prize is presented annually to an author who has published a non-fiction book in the prior year that is likely to have profound literary, social, and academic impact in the area of history. At a value of $75,000 U.S., the Grand Prize is claimed to be the richest non-fiction historical literature prize in the world.[2][3] In addition, two "Recognition of Excellence" prizes of $10,000 U.S. each are awarded.[3] The winners of the Prizes are selected by an independent jury of at least five internationally qualified individuals selected by McGill University. The Cundill Prize in History at McGill is administered by McGill University's Dean of Arts, with the help of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC).[3]
When the Prize was announced in April 2008, Mr. Cundill noted that he "… was surprised to learn there were no major prizes in history." He explained his affinity to history: "I am an investment researcher of finance and I think there is an analogy between the two disciplines – both study the past to understand the present and predict the future."[4]
Honorees
2020
Grand Prize[5]
- Camilla Townsend, Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs
Recognition of Excellent Prizes[6]
- Vincent Brown , Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War
- William Dalrymple , The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
Jury Members
- Peter Frankopan (chair), Anne Applebaum, Lyse Doucet, Eliga Gould and Sujit Sivasundaram[7]
2019
Grand Prize[8]
- Julia Lovell, Maoism: A Global History
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Mary Fullbrook, Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice
- Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States
Jury Members
- Alan Taylor (chair), Charlotte Gray, Robert Gerwarth, Jane Kamensky, Rana Mitter
2018
Grand Prize[9]
- Maya Jasanoff, The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Caroline Fraser, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Sam White, A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s Encounter with North America
Jury Members
- Mark Gilbert (chair), Carol Berkin, Caroline Elkins, Peter Frankopan, Jeffrey Simpson
2017
Grand Prize[10]
- Daniel Beer, The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Christopher Goscha, Vietnam: A New History
- Walter Scheidel, The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century
Jury Members
2016
Grand Prize[11]
- Thomas Laqueur, The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- David Wootton, The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution
- Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World
Jury Members
2015
Grand Prize[12]
- Susan Pedersen, The Guardians: The League of Nations and the crisis of Empire
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Sven Beckert, Empire of Cotton: A Global History
- Bettina Stangneth, Eichmann before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer (translation by Dr. Ruth Martin)
Jury Members
- Anthony Cary, David Frum, Chad Gaffield, Maya Jasanoff, Anna Porter
2014
Grand Prize[13]
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Richard Overy, The Bombing War: Europe 1939-45
- David Van Reybrouck, Congo: The Epic History of a People
Jury Members
- David Frum, Marla R. Miller, Stuart Schwartz, Thomas H.B. Symons, Althia Raj
2013
Grand Prize[14]
- Anne Applebaum, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went To War In 1914
- Fredrik Logevall, Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
Jury Members
- Garvin Brown, Anthony Cary, Sergio Luzzatto, Marla R. Miller, Thomas H. B. Symons
2012
Grand Prize[15]
- Stephen Platt, Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, The West, and The Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes
- Andrew Preston, Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy
Jury Members
- Garvin Brown, Charles R. Kesler, Vanessa Schwartz, Jeffrey Simpson
2011
Grand Prize [16]
- Sergio Luzzatto, Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
- Maya Jasanoff, Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World
Jury Members
- Garvin Brown, Charles R. Kesler, Vanessa Ruth Schwartz, Jeffrey Simpson
2010
Grand Prize[3]
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Giancarlo Casale, The Ottoman Age of Exploration
- Marla Miller, Betsy Ross and the Making of America
Jury Members
- Adam Gopnik, Catherine Desbarats, Lisa Jardine, Charles Kesler, Kenneth Whyte
2009
Grand Prize
- Lisa Jardine, Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- David Hackett Fischer, Champlain's Dream
- Pekka Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire
Jury Members
- Timothy Aitken, Roger Chartier, Denise Chong, Serge Joyal, Angela Schottenhammer and Ken Whyte.
2008
Grand Prize
- Stuart B. Schwartz, All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World
Recognition of Excellence Prizes
- Harold J. Cook, Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age
- Peter Fritzsche, Life and Death in the Third Reich
Jury Members
- Timothy Aitken, Roger Chartier, Denise Chong, Natalie Zemon Davis, Serge Joyal, and Angela Schottenhammer.
See also
Notes
- Robertson, Becky (19 May 2017). "Cundill Prize rebrands for its 10th anniversary". The Quill and Quire. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "British historian wins McGill's Cundill book prize", The Montreal Gazette, November 15, 2010
- "Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs wins Cundill History Prize". McGill.ca. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- "US$75k Cundill History Prize 2020 finalists announced". Books and Publishing. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- "Jury". Cundill Prize. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- "British scholar Julia Lovell wins McGill-run history prize for book on Maoism". www.citynews1130.com. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
- "Walking in Joseph Conrad's footsteps, Maya Jasanoff Wins 2018 Cundill History Prize". McGill. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- Van Koeverden, Jane (November 17, 2017). "Daniel Beer wins $75K US history writing prize for The House of the Dead". Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- "The Work of the Dead wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature". McGill University. November 18, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- Press Release (November 2, 2015). "2015 Cundill Prize Winner". McGill University. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- Mark Medley (November 21, 2014). "Gary Bass wins Cundill Prize in Historical Literature". The Globe and Mail.
- Press Release (21 November 2013). "Ann Applebaum wins 2013 Cundill Prize". McGill University. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
- Press Release (10 December 2012). "Stephen Platt wins 2012 Cundill Prize at McGill". McGill University. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- Mark Medley (November 14, 2011). "Sergio Luzzatto wins 2011 Cundill Prize in History". National Post. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
External links
- Cundill Prize in Historical Literature, official website.