Wolfson History Prize Shortlist 2023
By Wolfson History Prize
Wolfson History Prize Shortlist 2023
By Wolfson History Prize
The six books shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, the UK’s most prestigious history writing prize, have been announced, celebrating the best historical non-fiction books from the past year.
Bringing new stories to light, and challenging readers to rethink accepted historical narratives, the Wolfson History Prize shortlist explores themes that are pertinent to current world events.
Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945
Halik Kochanski
£20.00 £19.00*2023 Wolfson History Prize winner* Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939–45 by Halik Kochanski is a sweeping, original history of occupation and resistance in war-torn Europe. It is the first English-language history of resistance to study the whole of Europe, from the Balkans to Norway, uncovering powerful, human stories of resistors who have often been overlooked, such as Jewish and female fighters. Resistance delves into the strategies employed by ordinary people as they challenged occupying forces, revealing their remarkable achievements and the formidable challenges they faced amid oppression.
Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers
Emma Smith
£10.99 £10.44An exciting history of books and their power over us, Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers by Emma Smith explores the unexpected and unseen consequences of our love affair with books. Portable Magic dismantles the myth that print began with Gutenberg, reveals how our reading habits have been shaped by American soldiers, and proposes a new definition of a “classic”. In the process it illuminates how our relationship with books is more reciprocal – and more turbulent – than we tend to imagine.
Vagabonds: Life on the Streets of Nineteenth-century London – Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2023
Oskar Jensen
£10.99 £10.44A compelling, moving and unexpected portrait of London’s poor from BBC New Generation Thinker Oskar Jensen, Vagabonds: Life on the Streets of Nineteenth-century London brings the Dickensian city vividly to life. From beggars and thieves to musicians and missionaries, porters and hawkers to sex workers and street criers, Jensen combines original research, first-hand accounts and testimonies to tell their stories in their own words.
The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe
James Belich
£45.00A Spectator and Prospect Book of the Year, The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe by James Belich sheds new light on one of history’s greatest paradoxes: that the human tragedy of the plague brought about cultural and economic renewal on a scale never before witnessed. The World the Plague Made is a panoramic history of the global expansion of Europe and how this was intertwined with other peoples throughout the world.
African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History
Hakim Adi
£18.99 £18.04A major new history that transforms understandings of Britain’s past, African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History by Hakim Adi charts a course through British history with an unobscured view of the actions of African and Caribbean people. Starting with the Libyan legionaries who patrolled Hadrian’s Wall and the “Black Tudors” who served in the land’s most eminent households, the book spans the long history of African and Caribbean people in Britain. It highlights the vital contributions of these men and women to our collective achievements like universal suffrage, victory over fascism and the NHS.
Celebrated historians Mary Beard and Sudhir Hazareesingh joined the judging panel this year, working alongside fellow judges Richard Evans, Carole Hillenbrand, Diarmaid MacCulloch, and chair David Cannadine to narrow down the very best history writing in the UK from the past year to a shortlist of six books, from which one winner will be selected.
First awarded by the Wolfson Foundation in 1972, the Wolfson History Prize remains a beacon of the best historical writing being produced in the UK, reflecting qualities of both readability for a general audience and excellence in writing and research. The most valuable history writing prize in the UK, the Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually, with the winner receiving £50,000, and the shortlisted authors receiving £5,000 each. Over £1.4 million has been awarded to more than 120 historians in the prize’s 51-year history. Previous winners include Simon Schama, Eric Hobsbawm, Amanda Vickery, Antony Beevor, Christopher Bayly, and Antonia Fraser.