Finalist: A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama's America , by Jacqueline Jones (Basic Books )
A deeply researched examination of how race as a social invention has retained its power to organize, mark and harm the lives of Americans.
Winners
Prize Winner in History in 2014:
Alan Taylor
A meticulous and insightful account of why runaway slaves in the colonial era were drawn to the British side as potential liberators.
History
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in History in 2014:
Eric Schlosser
A chilling history of the management of America's nuclear arsenal, exploring the fateful challenges and chronicling the "near misses" that could have triggered a cataclysm.
The Jury
The Jury
Ann Fabian(Chair )
distinguished professor of history
Tomiko Brown-Nagin
Daniel Paul Professor of Constitutional Law and professor of history
Greg Grandin
professor of history
Winners in History
Fredrik Logevall
A balanced, deeply researched history of how, as French colonial rule faltered, a succession of American leaders moved step by step down a road toward full-blown war.
Manning Marable
An exploration of the legendary life and provocative views of one of the most significant African-Americans in U.S. history, a work that separates fact from fiction and blends the heroic and tragic.
Eric Foner
A well orchestrated examination of Lincoln's changing views of slavery, bringing unforeseeable twists and a fresh sense of improbability to a familiar story.
Liaquat Ahamed
A compelling account of how four powerful bankers played crucial roles in triggering the Great Depression and ultimately transforming the United States into the world's financial leader.
2014 Prize Winners
Donna Tartt
A beautifully written coming-of-age novel with exquisitely drawn characters that follows a grieving boy's entanglement with a small famous painting that has eluded destruction, a book that stimulates the mind and touches the heart.
Annie Baker
A thoughtful drama with well-crafted characters that focuses on three employees of a Massachusetts art-house movie theater, rendering lives rarely seen on the stage.
Alan Taylor
A meticulous and insightful account of why runaway slaves in the colonial era were drawn to the British side as potential liberators.
Megan Marshall
A richly researched book that tells the remarkable story of a 19th century author, journalist, critic and pioneering advocate of women's rights who died in a shipwreck.