The Cundill History Prize revealed its shortlist, with three books in contention for the annual Canadian award given to a book that “embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal.”
Gary J. Bass was named a finalist for Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia, which covers the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, the 1946-1948 military trial of the leaders of Japan for their actions in World War II. Bass won the Cundill History Prize in 2014 for The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide.
Kathleen DuVal was shortlisted for Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, an account of the power of the Indigenous nations on the continent before and after European colonization.
Dylan C. Penningroth made the shortlist for Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights, a book about Black Americans’ relationship with the law before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s.
Rana Mitter, the chair of the prize jury, said in a statement, “The fierce urgency of history: that’s the force that runs through all three of our Cundill finalists. Each one is a brilliantly crafted, deeply researched work of historical scholarship.”
The award, founded in 2008 by investor Peter Cundill, is administered by McGill University. Previous winners include Anne Applebaum for Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 and Tiya Miles for All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake.
The winner of this year’s award will be announced at a ceremony in Montreal on Oct. 30.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
