Finalist: Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America , by Richard White (W.W. Norton & Company )
A myth-shattering book that shows how reckless but influential railroad corporations in the late 19th century often profited by failure as well as success.
Winners
Prize Winner in History in 2012:
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.
History
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in History in 2012:
Anne F. Hyde
A fresh work tracing how people created families and conducted business in a vast, fur-trading region newly part of an expanding United States.
Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan
A painstaking look at a catastrophic act of terrorism and the nagging questions that have swirled around it.
The Jury
The Jury
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich(Chair )*
professor of history
Ned Blackhawk
professor of history and American studies
Walter McDougall
professor of history and chair, international relations
Winners in History
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.
Annette Gordon-Reed
A painstaking exploration of a sprawling multi-generation slave family that casts provocative new light on the relationship between Sally Hemings and her master, Thomas Jefferson.
2012 Prize Winners
No award
No award
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.
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.
Tracy K. Smith
A collection of bold, skillful poems, taking readers into the universe and moving them to an authentic mix of joy and pain.