History book prizes divide opinion - how can you ever fairly decide on a 'best' book? What does best even mean? And how come my book didn't win?
Personally I like them. Even trying to keep tabs on all new books as I do, the prize shortlists always throw up a bunch I have missed, which I am confident will meet a minimum level of quality.
The purpose of this post is to share these history books with you, the reader.
The two big names in history book prize world are the Wolfson History Prize and the Cundhill History Prize. Both prize organisations have just released their shortlists for 2024. Both look like very good lists!
Cundhill History Prize shortlist for 2024
The Cundhill prize panel are looking for "the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal."
For the record my guess is the three finalists will be Revolusi, Gun Control and Judgement At Tokyo.
Wolfson History Prize shortlist for 2024
If you want to be a winner of the Wolfson prize, bear in mind that "books are judged on the extent to which they are carefully researched, well-written and accessible to the non-specialist reader." Oh yes, you also have to be resident in the UK during the year of publication.
Out of the Darkness as the winner?
The only book that is in both lists is Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji.
Across both lists I have only read (and reviewed) Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire which I thought was a fantastic book.
