April 30th 2026 in News

2026 Cundill History Prize Jury Announced

Leading international historians Ned Blackhawk, Emily Greenwood and Barbara Weinstein, and award-winning journalist Fergal Keane, join chair Timothy Brook to complete the 2026 Cundill History Prize jury, deliberating on almost 400 submissions from across the world.

Specialising in a breadth of historical periods and subjects, from Indigenous North American history, to Ancient Greek literature and its reception; from East Asian and global history, to Latin American history, the 2026 jury bring a wealth of expertise to the task of judging the diverse range of books under consideration.

Timothy Brook, Emeritus Professor at the University of British Columbia and chair of the 2026 Cundill History Prize jury, said: “I very much look forward to discussing the best new books in history with my fellow jurors, whose specialisations range far beyond my own. Great history books need to take fresh perspectives on historical issues, approaching them in different ways. Only then can history become truly relevant to contemporary debates.”

Ned Blackhawk, Howard R. Lamar Professor of History at Yale University, said: “Ever since its first awards in 2008, the Cundill History Prize has warmed my heart, combining two of my favourite things: History and Montréal. As a proud graduate of McGill, I am delighted to serve in this important role and look forward to working with the esteemed jury to review this year’s submissions. It is an incredibly important time to understand the past and champion its interpretations.”

Emily Greenwood, James F. Rothenberg Professor of Classics and Comparative at Harvard University, said: “The Cundill History Prize plays a special role in drawing attention to the value of original, creative, history writing in ensuring that the interpretation of the past captures the imagination of the present. I especially value the prize’s emphasis on the three c’s: “craft, communication and consequence”. I am honoured to serve on this year’s jury and look forward to our shared work in judging and celebrating the distinctive books in this year’s submissions.” 

Fergal Keane, award-winning BBC journalist and author, said: “I am deeply honoured to be invited onto the judging panel for the Cundill History Prize 2026. I have spent most of my life reporting from places where the impact of history is played out every day in the lived experience of millions of people. I am drawn back constantly to examine imperial legacies, the roots of wars of conquest, the development of human thought and the consequences of scientific change. For someone whose great joy is losing myself in a work of history being asked to help judge the prize is an immense pleasure. The Cundill History Prize celebrates intellectual curiosity, rigorous scholarship and literary flair across a wonderfully diverse range of books. Happy to be on board!”

Barbara Weinstein, Silver Professor of History at New York University and Past President of the American Historical Association, said: “There are many prizes for books by historians, but almost all of them are for a book in a specific subfield of history, whether delimited by place or time period. The result is to encourage scholars to identify with a particular area of concentration instead of with the discipline of history, broadly defined. One important exception is the Cundill History Prize, a prize that encourages us to think about the significance of historical research in a way that transcends areas of specialization and narrow audiences, and to appreciate the remarkable range of events, issues, and themes that can be illuminated by the historian’s craft.”

Last year the jury, chaired by Ada Ferrer, awarded the prize to Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at the University of Oxford, for her “sensational” account of the sixteenth-century uprising that shook Europe to its core, Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War (John Murray Press / Basic Books). Roper will deliver the Cundill Lecture this October as part of the Cundill History Prize Festival in Montreal.

Along with Lyndal Roper (2025), this year’s winner will join the prize’s alumni of world-class historians, including Kathleen DuVal (2024), Tania Branigan (2023), Tiya Miles (2022), Marjoleine Kars (2021), Camilla Townsend (2020), Julia Lovell (2019), Maya Jasanoff (2018), Daniel Beer (2017), Thomas W. Laqueur (2016), Susan Pedersen (2015), Gary Bass (2014), Anne Applebaum (2013), Stephen Platt (2012), Sergio Luzzatto (2011), Diarmaid MacCulloch (2010), Lisa Jardine (2009), and Stuart B. Schwartz (2008).

The winner will be announced at the Cundill History Prize gala, held in Montreal on Friday, October 23, and the progress of jury deliberations and announcements will be shared to an ever-growing audience through a network of partners, which last year included CBC Ideas, Literary Hub, History Hit, BBC History Extra and Literary Review of Canada.