Each year, the UK's Wolfson Prize tries to sort through the hundreds of history books that are published to find outstanding books that are both important and readable.
The Wolfson judges apply only two criteria: deep scholarship and accessibility—the perfect combination for any good history book.
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1
Oscar: A Life
by Matthew Sturgis -
2
Empress: Queen Victoria and India
by Miles Taylor -
3
Birds in the Ancient World: Winged Words
by Jeremy Mynott -
4
Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice
by Mary Fulbrook -
5
Trading in War: London's Maritime World in the Age of Cook and Nelson
by Margarette Lincoln -
6
Building Anglo-Saxon England
by John Blair
The Best History Books: the 2019 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch
The Best History Books: the 2019 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Every year the Wolfson History Prize sets out to pick the very best history books written in the past year. Historian and Wolfson prize judge, Diarmaid MacCulloch, talks us through the wonderful books that made the 2019 shortlist: history books that are both great reads and serious scholarship.
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1
Out of China: How the Chinese Ended the Era of Western Domination
by Robert Bickers -
2
The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
by Lindsey Fitzharris -
3
A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War
by Tim Grady -
4
Black Tudors: The Untold Story
by Miranda Kaufmann -
5
Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation
by Peter Marshall -
6
Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea
by Jan Rüger
The Best History Books: the 2018 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand
The Best History Books: the 2018 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand
Which were the best history books published this past year? Each year, the UK’s Wolfson Prize tries to sort through the hundreds of history books that are published to find outstanding books that are both important and readable. Wolfson Prize judge Carole Hillenbrand introduces the six books that made 2018 shortlist. We also have the best history books 2019 Wolfson Prize.
