History Writing Prize

[ltmurnau]

Former Montrealer sets up $75,000 prize for history writing
Last Updated: Friday, April 18, 2008 | 10:12 AM ET

A former Montrealer has established a lucrative new literary honour designed to shine a light on the genre of non-fiction history writing.

London-based investment manager Peter Cundill, a graduate of McGill University, has unveiled the $75,000 US Cundill International Prize in History.

McGill officials and the Cundill Foundation officially announced the new prize in Montreal on Thursday, with the inaugural winner to be named at a reception on Nov. 25. A short list will be revealed in October.

The new award "highlights the importance of looking to the past so that we may chart the best course for the future," Heather Munroe-Blum, McGill's principal and vide-chancellor, said in a statement.

Cundill, who graduated from McGill in 1960 and has lived in London for three decades, described a link between the world of finance and the study of history.

"Both study the past to understand the present and predict the future," he said.

In addition to presenting one author with $75,000 US for publishing a historical book (published in English or French) deemed "to have a profound literary, social and academic impact," the prize will also offer two "recognition of excellence" awards of $10,000 US each.

An independent jury will select each year's winners, with the first panel to include Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation president Timothy Aitken, Canadian writer Denise Chong, Canadian Senator Serge Joyal, professors Angela Shottenhammer (Munich), Roger Chartier (Paris) and Natalie Zemon Davis (Toronto).


About bloody time!
I haven't read any new good fiction in years, except maybe William Gibson. Yet non-fiction writing continues to improve. Most new books I buy these days are non-fiction, usually history.
But I acknowledge I am in the minority.

Comments

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for this!
Stupid question: is there a classification for "Security and whatnot" that's distinct from "military and whatnot?"

Here are some more useful items:

FM 3-24, the Army's new manual on counterinsurgency - I got my copy at Munro's! The first Army manual with an annotated bibliography for further reading - I will post its contents later. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226841510/

Networks Terror and Global INsurgency: some good writing on the topic.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415348196/

Brave New War: havent' read it but it is getting good buzz.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471780790

[bruiseblue.livejournal.com]

No such thing as a stupid question! Yes. Post 9/11 especially, security is more political science (governments decide things), whereas military studies is what the actual military does, or decides to do, etc. I think that makes sense? You see older stuff classified slightly differently (80s and before) where anything to do with security operations would be U, but now that the US has all kinds of agencies doing security stuff, not just the military, it's expanded broadly.

There's also a whole category for border security, which hasn't really been a topic of interest until recently, and for multinational cooperation for security. Crazy.

So if a book is mostly about military affairs or actions or outcomes, it'll go in the U (v for navy) section - if it's about government debating or taking action etc. for security stuff, it'll go in the Js. Could also go into H for sociology (military life and culture is always H, as is women in combat, dependants, leadership, etc.).

I'm going to send our Poli Sci guy the list of books from the Army Manual bibliography, and see if he'll buy any of that for me. For that matter, see if he'll buy the manual, too.

You probably want "Security Dimensions -- International" which is JZ5688.2. But there are bits scattered around the whole Js... as well as loads that make it into the UV still.

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

That's what I suspected (the political/military decision split), but I wasn't sure where to look. Thanks!

[bruiseblue.livejournal.com]

A lot of the language in the LC classification is outdated, so I actually found some books on the topic and noted where they were housed, and then tracked that back to the LC manual... but ultimtely, I used the LC manual index.

No heading for 'counterinsurgency' though - but there is Guerrilla warfare and terrorism galore.