The Cundill Prize in Historical Literature (or simply Cundill Prize) 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. In addition, two "Recognition of Excellence" prizes of $10,000 U.S. each are awarded. 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).
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.”
Grand Prize
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
Grand Prize
Gary Bass, The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide
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
Grand Prize
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
Grand Prize
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
Grand Prize
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
Grand Prize
Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
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
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.
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.
