The Wolfson History Prize, the UK’s most prestigious history writing prize, has today announced its shortlist for 2024, highlighting six of the best history books from the past year.
This year’s shortlist covers multiple centuries and countries, with a focus on major turning points in the histories of the Americas, Britain, Bangladesh, Germany, India, Pakistan and South Africa.
South Asia’s turbulent history is a major focus of two books on this year’s shortlist.
Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji, charts the history of the British Raj through to independence and partition. Adopting a conversational writing style and a structure that pays equal attention to politics, food, cinema and the household, Chatterji’s highly personal, genre-bending book (also longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2024 and shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize 2024) offers a vibrant portrait of modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and focuses on the elements which unite, rather than divide, the three nations.
Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire by Nandini Das, was the winner of the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding in 2023. Through re-examining Thomas Roe’s fateful expedition to India in 1616, Das challenges our understanding of Britain and its early influence in the subcontinent prior to the heyday of the British Raj, when the ailing Stuart monarchy stood in stark contrast to the wealthy and cultured Mughal Empire of the time. Exploring the art, literature, sights and sounds of Jacobean London and Imperial India, Das’ groundbreaking debut shines new light on this important chapter in Indo-Britain relations.
Apartheid South Africa is brought under the magnifying glass in Winnie & Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg. In his profoundly moving National Book Critics Circle Award winning biography, Steinberg concentrates on an area of the famous political leader’s life which has received less scholarly attention: his personal relationship with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. With fresh insight and empathy, and drawing on never-before-published conversations between the pair, Steinberg reveals the jealousies and disagreements plaguing this influential couple, whose union played out on the world stage. Both knew theirs was not simply a marriage, but a contest to decide how apartheid should be fought.
Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by Nicholas Radburn, meanwhile, examines the horrors of one of the darkest eras in human history. Radburn’s meticulously researched book documents how 18th-century merchants in Britain, Africa and the Americas created the slave trade by devising vicious and cruel new ways of doing business which successfully facilitated the shipment, detainment, and commodification of human beings. Transatlantic in its focus, Radburn methodically lays out how traders of the time conspired together to facilitate the sale of millions of people, the long-term effects of which continue to reverberate to this day.
Returning to Europe, Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022 by Frank Trentmann follows the German people from the Second World War to the present, posing the question: how did the Germans emerge from totalitarianism, and where did they go from there? From migrants to soldiers, and families to popularists, Trentmann’s compelling, vivid book attempts to understand the moral transformation of the German people throughout the 20th century, with reflections on complicity, compassion, conscience and struggles about right and wrong at the heart of his studies.
Closer to home, Our NHS: A History of Britain’s Best-Loved Institution by Andrew Seaton pays tribute to what has long been regarded a key pillar of the UK’s national identity. From rumblings for a nationalised health service in the early 20th century to the financially challenging postwar decades, surviving the rise of neoliberalism, and right through to our precarious post-pandemic era, Seaton’s wide-ranging book traces the resilience of a service while acknowledging the NHS staff from Britain and abroad who have ensured its survival these past 75 years.
A distinguished judging panel comprising historians Mary Beard, Richard Evans, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Carole Hillenbrand, Diarmaid MacCulloch, and chair David Cannadine will now select one overall winner from their shortlist of six.
“This year’s shortlist showcases the extraordinary range and breadth of contemporary historical writing,” said David Cannadine, Chair of the Wolfson History Prize judges. “From politics, slavery and international relations to healthcare and societal transformation, the six titles – with subjects spanning continents and centuries – offer profound insights and stand out for their rigorous research and compelling storytelling.”
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation said, “We are excited to announce the shortlist for the Wolfson History Prize 2024, celebrating the very best history writing in the UK today.
“Our judges have done a remarkable job in choosing six books which combine excellent research with readability. They now have the unenviable task of selecting only one winner from this magnificent shortlist. These are books that are eminently worth reading: eye-opening, important and at times painful accounts of human history. They not only sparkle but also remind us that the past is always with us, and ultimately why history writing matters.”
Now in its 52nd year, the Wolfson History Prize celebrates books that combine excellence in research with readability for a general audience, demonstrating the relevance of history and historical writing to society today. The most valuable history writing prize in the UK, the Wolfson History Prize awards a total of £75,000 with the winner receiving £50,000 and each of the five shortlisted authors receiving £5,000.
The overall winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2024 will be revealed at a ceremony in central London on Monday 2 December 2024.
Over the past 52 years, the annual Wolfson History Prize has championed the finest history writing by authors and historians including Simon Schama, William Dalrymple, Amanda Vickery and Clare Jackson. Previous winners of the Wolfson History Prize include Antony Beevor for Stalingrad, Antonia Fraser for The Weaker Vessel: Woman’s Lot in Seventeenth-Century England and Mary Fulbrook for Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice. The 2023 prize was won by Halik Kochanski for Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-45.
The Wolfson History Prize is run and awarded by the Wolfson Foundation, an independent charity with a focus on research and education.
