By Cynthia Lee
And then there were three.
After careful consideration, the five-member jury of the Cundill Prize in History at McGill University has whittled down the contenders for the largest literary prize in non-fiction historical literature to a trio of finalists.
Now in its fourth year, the prestigious prize will be awarded on Nov. 13 in a ceremony in London, England. The winning author will receive $75,000 U.S. while the runners-up will get “Recognition of Excellence” awards of $10,000 U.S.
The three short-listed books are:
• Maya Jasanoff – Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World (Random House of Canada) / UK title is Liberty’s Exiles: The Loss of America and the Remaking of the British Empire (HarperPress)
• Timothy Snyder – Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (Basic Books)
• Sergio Luzzatto – Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age (Metropolitan Books)
“These three books are unforgettable, and each hints at legacies that are with us still.” said McGill history professor and jury member Catherine Desbarats. “With powerful restraint, Bloodlands revisits the East-European sites where Soviet and German state ambitions met, and killed in nauseating numbers. Liberty’s Exiles brilliantly follows the refugees from America’s war of Independence as they relocate to new British Imperial places, scarred, yet bursting with political expectations of their own. Packed with exquisite paradox, Padre Pio reveals the unsettling forces unleashed by saint-making in a secular age.”
Since its inception in 2008, the Cundill Prize recognizes an individual, of any nationality and from any country, who has published a book determined to have had – or likely to have – a profound literary, social and academic impact in the area of history. The award was established by the late McGill alumnus F. Peter Cundill to recognize and promote literary and academic achievement in history. The Cundill Foundation supports a wide range of charities as well as research projects and educational gifts.