LISTEN to a special episode of CBC Ideas on the Cundill-winning Fifth Sun, with Camilla Townsend in conversation with host Nahlah Ayed and reading from her book.
READ Camilla Townsend's interview with the Globe & Mail, alongside finalists Vincent Brown and William Dalrymple, also featuring an extract from Fifth Sun.
LISTEN to Camilla Townsend on Fifth Sun on this History Extra podcast episode, and watch out for an interview on winning the prize and global history -- still to come.
FESTIVAL REPLAY: 1
RE-WATCH the 2020 Winner Ceremony of the Cundill History Prize, in partnership with History Hit and hosted by Dan Snow, featuring Jury Chair Peter Frankopan and the three finalists.
FESTIVAL REPLAY: 2
RE-WATCH the Cundill Forum, with 2020 finalists Vincent Brown, William Dalrymple and Camilla Townsend in a fascinating conversation on "Heroes, Villains and Victims and the Challenges of History".
FESTIVAL REPLAY: 3
RE-WATCH Julia Lovell's stand-out Cundill Lecture on Writing Maoism as Global History, in partnership with History Extra.
Available shortly.
Celebrate the 2020 Finalists with us
Vincent Brown
Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War
Belknap Press at Harvard University Press
William Dalrymple
The Anarchy: the Relentless Rise of the East India Company
Bloomsbury Publishing
Camilla Townsend
Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs
Oxford University Press USA
DISCOVER THE FINALISTS
2020 Season Calendar
The Cundill History Prize Festival
with two full days of events including:
The Cundill Lecture in History
delivered by 2019 winner Julia Lovell (Maoism)
in partnership with BBC HistoryExtra
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. GMT
The Cundill Forum
A special evening with the three finalists
in partnership with CBC Ideas
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
4.30 p.m. ET / 9.30 p.m. GMT
The 2020 Winner Announcement
in partnership with HistoryHit TV & the Timeline YouTube channel
Thursday, December 3, 2020
1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. GMT
The 2020 Cundill History Prize is being brought to you in partnership with:
Peter Frankopan
Anne Applebaum
Lyse Doucet
Eliga Gould
Sujit Sivasundaram
2020 Jury
The Cundill History Prize is steering through one of the most challenging moments in recent world history with an exceptional international jury of prize-winning historians and journalists.
“This has been an extraordinary year for history writing, with some truly exceptional books that have changed how we look at the past. As we’ve all been learning during lockdown, making sense of the world around us has never been more important. I’m very excited by the outstanding panel that have agreed to judge the Cundill Prize this year – and to working with them to find the voices and ideas that have shown again why the study of history is so important.”
Peter Frankopan
The prestigious international Cundill History Prize recognizes and rewards the best history writing
in English.
Administered by McGill University in Montreal, the Cundill History Prize generously rewards the leading historians of our time, with US$75,000 going to the winner, and the two runners up each receiving a Recognition of Excellence Award, together with US$10,000. A distinguished jury is seeking the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal. Previous winners include Thomas W. Laqueur, Susan Pedersen, Lisa Jardine, Anne Applebaum, and Diarmaid MacCulloch.
2020 Jury
Find out more about the eminent historians judging the 2018 Cundill History Prize here.
Media
Find videos, interviews and media coverage highlights in our new Media section.