Finalist: The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy , by David Nasaw (Penguin )
A monumental work that tells the story of the relentless tycoon who created a dynastic family that helped shape modern American history and also suffered immense tragedy.
Winners
Prize Winner in Biography in 2013:
Tom Reiss
A compelling story of a forgotten swashbuckling hero of mixed race whose bold exploits were captured by his son, Alexander Dumas, in famous 19th century novels.
Biography
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Biography in 2013:
Michael Gorra
An elegant and enlightening book that brings together the complicated life of a great author and the evolution of his great novel, "The Portrait of a Lady."
The Jury
The Jury
Alan Brinkley(Chair )
Allan Nevins Professor of History
Michael Kazin
professor of history
Elmaz Abinader
professor of English
Winners in Biography
John Lewis Gaddis
An engaging portrait of a globetrotting diplomat whose complicated life was interwoven with the Cold War and America's emergence as the world's dominant power.
Ron Chernow
A sweeping, authoritative portrait of an iconic leader learning to master his private feelings in order to fulfill his public duties.
T.J. Stiles
A penetrating portrait of a complex, self-made titan who revolutionized transportation, amassed vast wealth and shaped the economic world in ways still felt today.
Jon Meacham
An unflinching portrait of a not always admirable democrat but a pivotal president, written with an agile prose that brings the Jackson saga to life.
2013 Prize Winners
Adam Johnson
An exquisitely crafted novel that carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart.
Ayad Akhtar
A moving play that depicts a successful corporate lawyer painfully forced to consider why he has for so long camouflaged his Pakistani Muslim heritage.
Sharon Olds
A book of unflinching poems on the author's divorce that examine love, sorrow and the limits of self-knowledge.
Caroline Shaw
A highly polished and inventive a cappella work uniquely embracing speech, whispers, sighs, murmurs, wordless melodies and novel vocal effects (New Amsterdam Records).