Montreal writer finalist for history prize
Montreal historian Christopher Goscha’s account of Vietnam’s divided past is one of 10 books on the long list for a prestigious history writing prize.
Goscha’s book Vietnam: A New History is the sole Canadian contender for the Cundill History Prize, administered by McGill University. Goscha teaches at Universite de Quebec a Montreal.
The winner of the prize receives US$75,000, making it the most lucrative English-language nonfiction writing prize.
The 10 titles on the long list cover history from around the world, including Germany, Russia and the Middle East, with several entries focused on American historical events. The cultural influence of religion is a common theme in several of the books.
Among the American books on the list are The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Frances Fitzgerald, Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary by Joe Jackson and Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy by Heather Thompson.
Two finalists focus on Russian history. Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928 by Stephen Smith provides a panoramic view of the country’s 1917 revolution, and University of London professor Daniel Beer’s The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsar details the experiences at the country’s 19th-century prison camps.
Rounding out the list are Lyndal Roper’s Martin Luther, which examines the contradictory psychological forces acting on the 16thcentury religious leader, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, Christopher de Hamel’s account of medieval texts, Christopher de Ballaigue’s The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason, 1798 to Modern Times and The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by Walter Schneidel.
The judging panel is chaired by historian Margaret MacMillan, who praised what she called the “strong and interesting selection” of books included this year.
MacMillan will announce the three books chosen for the short list in London next month. The winner will be announced in Montreal on Nov. 16.
The Canadian Press