Professor Timothy Brook, Canadian historian of China and the Ming dynasty, will chair the 2026 jury for the US$75,000 Cundill History Prize.
Timothy Brook said: “I am very pleased to have been appointed to the Cundill History Prize committee. Deeply committed to seeing publishers produce great books on history, I am delighted to be part of this project, which draws the attention of the public to the best books in our field.”
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2025 Winner
Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War
Lyndal Roper | John Murray Press / Basic Books
“At the centre of her history are the peasants themselves. Roper traces the emergence, unfolding and eventual undoing of the rebellion and offers a vivid and compelling portrait of the peasants’ world. Through this lens, she delivers a history of the Reformation from the ground up—as it was lived and understood by the ordinary people, who often interpreted its message as far more radical than envisioned by its architects. Her analysis is stunning and multifaceted, seamlessly weaving together cultural, intellectual, social, economic and religious history into a rich and engaging narrative.”
— Ada Ferrer, 2025 Chair of the Jury
“The genius of Lyndal Roper is that she makes the past feel tangible. The story is fascinating in its own right, but it also offers vital context for understanding the broader history of Europe and the lasting global impact of the revolt. This is a crucial piece of history, and I’m so glad that I have had the chance to discover it.” - Afua Hirsch
Movements, dissidents and revolution: The Cundill History Prize announces 2025 Shortlist
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'The fierce urgency of history: that’s the force that runs through all three of our Cundill finalists.' - 2024 Jury Chair, Rana Mitter, on the finalists
