Pulitzer Prize in history
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The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, is one of the seven American
Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...
that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the
history of the United States The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
. Thus it is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year. The Pulitzer Prize program has also recognized some historical work with its Biography prize, from 1917, and its General Non-Fiction prize, from 1962. Finalists have been announced from 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.


Winners

In its first 97 years to 2013, the History Pulitzer was awarded 95 times. Two prizes were given in 1989; none in 1919, 1984, and 1994. Four people have won two each,
Margaret Leech Margaret Kernochan Leech (November 7, 1893 – February 24, 1974), also known as Margaret Pulitzer, was an American historian and fiction writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for History both in 1942 (''Reveille in Washington'', Harper) (first woma ...
,
Bernard Bailyn Bernard Bailyn (September 10, 1922 – August 7, 2020) was an American historian, author, and academic specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1953. Bailyn won the Pulitzer Pri ...
,
Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histor ...
and Alan Taylor. * 1917: '' With Americans of Past and Present Days'' by
Jean Jules Jusserand Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand (18 February 1855 – 18 July 1932) was a French author and diplomat. He was the French Ambassador to the United States 1903-1925 and played a major diplomatic role during World War I. Birth and education ...
* 1918: ''
A History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' by
James Ford Rhodes James Ford Rhodes (May 1, 1848 – January 22, 1927), was an American industrialist and historian born in Cleveland, Ohio. After earning a fortune in the iron, coal, and steel industries by 1885, he retired from business. He devoted his life to his ...
* 1919: no award given


1920s

* 1920: ''
The War with Mexico ''The War with Mexico'' is a book by Justin Harvey Smith. It won the 1920 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for ...
'' by
Justin H. Smith Justin Harvey Smith (born January 13, 1857, Boscawen, New Hampshire; died March 21, 1930, Brooklyn, New York) was an American historian and specialist on the Mexican–American War. Smith was educated at Dartmouth College (B.A. 1877; M.A. 1881) an ...
* 1921: ''
The Victory at Sea ''The Victory at Sea'' is a 1920 military history book by Admiral William Sims in collaboration with Burton J. Hendrick. It concern's Sims' career in the Atlantic theater of World War I. It won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer ...
'' by
William Sowden Sims William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and
Burton J. Hendrick Burton Jesse Hendrick (December 8, 1870 – March 23, 1949), born in New Haven, Connecticut, was an American author. While attending Yale University, Hendrick was editor of both The Yale Courant and The Yale Literary Magazine. He received his BA ...
* 1922: ''
The Founding of New England ''The Founding of New England '' is a book by James Truslow Adams. It won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awar ...
'' by
James Truslow Adams James Truslow Adams (October 18, 1878 – May 18, 1949) was an American writer and historian. He was a freelance author who helped to popularize the latest scholarship about American history and his three-volume history of New England is well r ...
* 1923: ''
The Supreme Court in United States History ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' by
Charles Warren General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...
* 1924: '' The American Revolution: A Constitutional Interpretation'' by
Charles Howard McIlwain Charles Howard McIlwain (March 15, 1871 – June 1, 1968) was an American historian and political scientist. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1924. He was educated at Princeton University and Harvard University and taught at both instituti ...
* 1925: ''
History of the American Frontier History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
'' by
Frederic L. Paxson Frederic Logan Paxson (February 23, 1877 in Philadelphia – October 24, 1948 in Berkeley, California) was an American historian. He had also been President of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. He had undergraduate and PhD degrees ...
* 1926: ''
A History of the United States A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
, Vol. VI: The War for Southern Independence (1849–1865)'' by
Edward Channing Edward Perkins Channing (June 15, 1856 – January 7, 1931) was an American historian and an author of a monumental ''History of the United States'' in six volumes, for which he won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for History. His thorough research i ...
* 1927: '' Pinckney's Treaty '' by
Samuel Flagg Bemis Samuel Flagg Bemis (October 20, 1891 – September 26, 1973) was an American historian and biographer. For many years he taught at Yale University. He was also president of the American Historical Association and a specialist in American dipl ...
* 1928: ''
Main Currents in American Thought Vernon Louis Parrington (August 3, 1871 – June 16, 1929) was an American literary historian and scholar. His three-volume history of American letters, ''Main Currents in American Thought'', won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1928 and was one ...
'' by
Vernon Louis Parrington Vernon Louis Parrington (August 3, 1871 – June 16, 1929) was an American literary historian and scholar. His three-volume history of American letters, ''Main Currents in American Thought'', won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1928 and was one ...
* 1929: '' The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861–1865'' by
Fred Albert Shannon Fred Albert Shannon (February 12, 1893 – February 4, 1963) was an American historian. He had many publications related to American history, and he won the 1929 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Organization and Administration of the U ...


1930s

* 1930: ''
The War of Independence ''The War of Independence'' is a nonfiction history book by American historian Claude H. Van Tyne, published in 1929. It explains the history and causes of the American Revolutionary War. Van Tyne won the Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer ...
'' by Claude H. Van Tyne * 1931: ''
The Coming of the War, 1914 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' by Bernadotte E. Schmitt * 1932: '' My Experiences in the World War'' by
John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...
* 1933: '' The Significance of Sections in American History'' by Frederick J. Turner * 1934: '' The People's Choice'' by
Herbert Agar Herbert Sebastian Agar (29 September 1897 – 24 November 1980) was an American journalist and historian, and an editor of the ''Louisville Courier-Journal''. Early life Herbert Sebastian Agar was born September 29, 1897 in New Rochelle, New York ...
* 1935: ''
The Colonial Period of American History ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' by
Charles McLean Andrews Charles McLean Andrews (February 22, 1863 – September 9, 1943) was an American historian, an authority on American colonial history.Roth, David M., editor, and Grenier, Judith Arnold, associate editor, "Connecticut History and Culture: An Histo ...
* 1936: '' A Constitutional History of the United States'' by
Andrew C. McLaughlin Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin (February 14, 1861 – September 24, 1947) was an American historian known as an authority on U.S. Constitutional history. Background McLaughlin was born in Illinois and received his bachelor's and law degrees from the ...
* 1937: '' The Flowering of New England, 1815–1865'' by
Van Wyck Brooks Van Wyck Brooks (February 16, 1886 in Plainfield, New Jersey – May 2, 1963 in Bridgewater, Connecticut) was an American literary critic, biographer, and historian. Biography Brooks graduated from Harvard University in 1908. As a studen ...
* 1938: '' The Road to Reunion, 1865–1900'' by
Paul Herman Buck Paul Herman Buck (August 25, 1899 – December 23, 1978) was an American historian. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1938 and became the first Provost of Harvard University in 1945. Biography Buck was born in Ohio. He received a Bachelo ...
* 1939: '' A History of American Magazines'' by
Frank Luther Mott Frank Luther Mott (April 4, 1886 – October 23, 1964) was an American historian and journalist, who won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for History for Volumes II and III of his series, ''A History of American Magazines''. Early life and education Mott w ...


1940s

* 1940: '' Abraham Lincoln: The War Years'' by
Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...
* 1941: '' The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860'' by
Marcus Lee Hansen Marcus Lee Hansen (December 8, 1892 – May 11, 1938) was an American historian, who won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860'' (1940). Biography Hansen was born in Neenah, Wisconsin.Brennan & Clarage (199 ...
* 1942: '' Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865'' by
Margaret Leech Margaret Kernochan Leech (November 7, 1893 – February 24, 1974), also known as Margaret Pulitzer, was an American historian and fiction writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for History both in 1942 (''Reveille in Washington'', Harper) (first woma ...
* 1943: ''
Paul Revere and the World He Lived In ''Paul Revere and the World He Lived In'' is a nonfiction history book by Esther Forbes. It won the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for History. References External linksPaul Revere and the World He Lived In
– google books Pulitzer Prize for His ...
'' by
Esther Forbes Esther Louise Forbes (; June 28, 1891 – August 12, 1967) was an American novelist, historian and children's writer who received the Pulitzer Prize and the Newbery Medal. She was the first woman elected to membership in the American Antiqu ...
* 1944: '' The Growth of American Thought'' by
Merle Curti Merle Eugene Curti (September 15, 1897 – March 9, 1996) was a leading American historian, who taught many graduate students at Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin, and was a leader in developing the fields of social history and ...
* 1945: ''Unfinished Business'' by
Stephen Bonsal Stephen Bonsal (March 29, 1865 – June 8, 1951) was an American journalist, war correspondent, author, diplomat, and translator, who won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for History. Early life Bonsal was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1865. He was e ...
* 1946: ''
The Age of Jackson ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' by
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a spe ...
* 1947: '' Scientists Against Time'' by
James Phinney Baxter III James Phinney Baxter III (February 15, 1893 in Portland, Maine – June 17, 1975 in Williamstown, Massachusetts) was an American historian, educator, and academic, who won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book ''Scientists Against Time ...
* 1948: '' Across the Wide Missouri'' by
Bernard DeVoto Bernard Augustine DeVoto (January 11, 1897 – November 13, 1955) was an American historian, conservationist, essayist, columnist, teacher, editor, and reviewer. He was the author of a series of Pulitzer-Prize-winning popular histories of the Ame ...
* 1949: ''
The Disruption of American Democracy ''The Disruption of American Democracy'' is a 1948 nonfiction history book published by American historian Roy Franklin Nichols, which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for History. In the book, Nichols argued that the American Civil War The A ...
'' by Roy Franklin Nichols


1950s

* 1950: '' Art and Life in America'' by Oliver W. Larkin * 1951: '' The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period 1815–1840'' by
R. Carlyle Buley Roscoe Carlyle Buley (July 8, 1893, in Georgetown, Floyd County, Indiana – April 25, 1968, in Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American historian and educator. Personal life and educational background The son of David M. Buley – a Hoosier scho ...
* 1952: ''
The Uprooted ''The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations That Made the American People'' is book about European migrations into the United States by Oscar Handlin. It won the Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered ...
'' by
Oscar Handlin Oscar Handlin (1915–2011) was an American historian. As a professor of history at Harvard University for over 50 years, he directed 80 PhD dissertations and helped promote social and ethnic history, virtually inventing the field of immigration ...
* 1953: '' The Era of Good Feelings'' by
George Dangerfield George Bubb Dangerfield (28 October 1904 in Newbury, Berkshire – 27 December 1986 in Santa Barbara, California) was a British-born American journalist, historian, and the literary editor of '' Vanity Fair'' from 1933 to 1935. He is known prima ...
* 1954: ''
A Stillness at Appomattox ''A Stillness at Appomattox'' (1953) is a non-fiction history book written by Bruce Catton.
'' by
Bruce Catton Charles Bruce Catton (October 9, 1899 – August 28, 1978) was an American historian and journalist, known best for his books concerning the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular history, featuring int ...
* 1955: '' Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History'' by
Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histor ...
* 1956: ''
The Age of Reform ''The Age of Reform'' is a 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Richard Hofstadter. It is an American history, which traces events from the Populist Movement of the 1890s through the Progressive Era to the New Deal of the 1930s. ''The Age of Reform ...
'' by
Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historic ...
* 1957: ''
Russia Leaves the War ''Russia Leaves the War'' (1956) is a book by George F. Kennan, which won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for History, the 1957 National Book Award for Nonfiction,George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly histo ...
* 1958: ''
Banks and Politics in America ''Banks and Politics in America'' (1957) () is a book by Bray Hammond, which describes the differences in banking and politics in the United States between the American Revolution and the Civil War period. The book was awarded the 1958 Pulitzer Pr ...
'' by
Bray Hammond Bray Hammond (November 20, 1886 – July 20, 1968) was an American financial historian and assistant secretary to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 1944–1950. He won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize ...
* 1959: '' The Republican Era: 1869–1901'' by Leonard D. White and Jean Schneider


1960s

* 1960: ''
In the Days of McKinley ''In the Days of McKinley'' is a nonfiction history book by Margaret Leech published in 1959 by Harper & Brothers Publishers. It won the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for History. It is a biography of the former American President William McKinley ...
'' by
Margaret Leech Margaret Kernochan Leech (November 7, 1893 – February 24, 1974), also known as Margaret Pulitzer, was an American historian and fiction writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for History both in 1942 (''Reveille in Washington'', Harper) (first woma ...
* 1961: '' Between War and Peace: The Potsdam Conference'' by
Herbert Feis Herbert Feis (June 7, 1893 – March 2, 1972) was an American historian, author, and economist who was the Economic Advisor for International Affairs to the US Department of State in the Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt administrations. Fe ...
* 1962: '' The Triumphant Empire: Thunder-Clouds Gather in the West, 1763–1766'' by
Lawrence H. Gipson Lawrence Henry Gipson (December 7, 1880 – September 26, 1971) was an American historian, who won the 1950 Bancroft Prize and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for History for volumes of his magnum opus, the fifteen-volume history of "The British Empire Be ...
* 1963: '' Washington, Village and Capital, 1800–1878'' by
Constance McLaughlin Green Constance McLaughlin Winsor Green (August 21, 1897 in Ann Arbor, Michigan – December 5, 1975 in Annapolis, Maryland) was an American historian. She who won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' Washington, Village and Capital, 1800–1878'' ...
* 1964: '' Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town'' by
Sumner Chilton Powell Sumner Chilton Powell (October 2, 1924 in Northampton, Massachusetts – July 8, 1993 in Colora, Maryland) was an American historian and history teacher at the Choate School, a college-prep boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut. He attende ...
* 1965: ''
The Greenback Era ''The Greenback Era: A Social and Political History of American Finance, 1865-1879'' is a book by American historian Irwin Unger, published in 1964 by Princeton University Press, which won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize fo ...
'' by
Irwin Unger Irwin Unger (May 2, 1927 - May 21, 2021, New York City) was an American historian and academic specializing in economic history, the history of the 1960s, and the history of the Gilded Age. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1958 and ...
* 1966: ''
The Life of the Mind in America ''The Life of the Mind in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War'' is a nonfiction history book by Perry Miller. It won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the ...
'' by
Perry Miller Perry Gilbert Eddy Miller (February 25, 1905 – December 9, 1963) was an American intellectual historian and a co-founder of the field of American Studies. Miller specialized in the history of early America, and took an active role in a revis ...
* 1967: '' Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West'' by
William H. Goetzmann William Harry Goetzmann (July 20, 1930 – September 7, 2010) was an American historian and emeritus professor in the American Studies and American Civilization Programs at the University of Texas at Austin. He attended Yale University as a graduate ...
* 1968: ''
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution ''The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution'' is a 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of history by Bernard Bailyn. It is considered one of the most influential studies of the American Revolution published during the 20th century. Bac ...
'' by
Bernard Bailyn Bernard Bailyn (September 10, 1922 – August 7, 2020) was an American historian, author, and academic specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1953. Bailyn won the Pulitzer Pri ...
* 1969: '' Origins of the Fifth Amendment'' by Leonard W. Levy


1970s

* 1970: '' Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department'' by
Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truman ...
* 1971: '' Roosevelt: The Soldier Of Freedom'' by
James MacGregor Burns James MacGregor Burns (August 3, 1918 – July 15, 2014) was an American historian and political scientist, presidential biographer, and authority on leadership studies. He was the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams Col ...
* 1972: '' Neither Black nor White'' by Carl N. Degler * 1973: '' People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization'' by
Michael Kammen Michael Gedaliah Kammen (October 25, 1936 – November 29, 2013) was an American professor of American cultural history in the Department of History at Cornell University. At the time of his death, he held the title "Newton C. Farr professor emeri ...
* 1974: '' The Americans: The Democratic Experience'' by
Daniel J. Boorstin Daniel Joseph Boorstin (October 1, 1914 – February 28, 2004) was an American historian at the University of Chicago who wrote on many topics in American and world history. He was appointed the twelfth Librarian of the United States Congress in ...
* 1975: ''
Jefferson and His Time ''Jefferson and His Time'' is a six-volume biography of US President Thomas Jefferson by American historian Dumas Malone, published between 1948 and 1981. The six volumes were published individually as follows: *''Jefferson the Virginian'' (1948 ...
'' by
Dumas Malone Dumas Malone (January 10, 1892 – December 27, 1986) was an American historian, biographer, and editor noted for his six-volume biography on Thomas Jefferson, ''Jefferson and His Time'', for which he received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for history a ...
* 1976: ''
Lamy of Santa Fe ''Lamy of Santa Fe'' is a 1975 biography of Catholic Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy, written by American author Paul Horgan and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The book won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for Histo ...
'' by
Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histor ...
* 1977: '' The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861'' by
David M. Potter David Morris Potter (December 6, 1910 – February 18, 1971) was an American historian specializing in the study of the American South and the American Civil War. He was born in Augusta, Georgia, graduated from the Academy of Richmond County, an ...
(Completed and edited by
Don E. Fehrenbacher Don Edward Fehrenbacher (August 21, 1920 – December 13, 1997) was an American historian. He wrote on politics, slavery, and Abraham Lincoln. He won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law ...
) * 1978: '' The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business'' by
Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. Alfred DuPont Chandler Jr. (September 15, 1918 – May 9, 2007) was a professor of business history at Harvard Business School and Johns Hopkins University, who wrote extensively about the scale and the management structures of modern corporatio ...
* 1979: '' The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics'' by
Don E. Fehrenbacher Don Edward Fehrenbacher (August 21, 1920 – December 13, 1997) was an American historian. He wrote on politics, slavery, and Abraham Lincoln. He won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law ...


1980s

Entries from this point on include the finalists listed after the winner for each year. * 1980: ''
Been in the Storm So Long ''Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery'' is a 1979 book by American historian Leon Litwack, published by Knopf. The book chronicles the African-American experience following the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. In 1980, the book won ...
'' by
Leon F. Litwack Leon Frank Litwack (December 2, 1929 – August 5, 2021) was an American historian whose scholarship focused on slavery, the Reconstruction Era of the United States, and its aftermath into the 20th century. He won a National Book Award, the Pulit ...
** '' The Plains Across'' by John B. Unruh ** ''The Urban Crucible'' by
Gary B. Nash Gary Baring Nash (July 27, 1933 – July 29, 2021) was an American historian. He concentrated on the Revolutionary period, slavery and race, as well as the formation of political communities in Philadelphia and other cities. Life and education Na ...
* 1981: '' American Education: The National Experience, 1783–1876'' by
Lawrence A. Cremin Lawrence Arthur Cremin (October 31, 1925 – September 4, 1990) was an educational historian and administrator. Biography Cremin attended Townsend Harris High School in Queens, and then received his B.A. and M.A. from City College of New York. ...
** ''A Search for Power: The 'Weaker Sex' in Seventeenth Century New England'' by
Lyle Koehler Lyle P. Koehler (March 6, 1944 – July 30, 2015) was an American historian and author. Early life and education Koehler was born in Sparta, Wisconsin on March 6, 1944, to parents Irene and Lyle Koehler Sr. He attended Black River Falls High Sch ...
** ''Over Here: The First World War and American Society'' by David M. Kennedy * 1982: '' Mary Chesnut's Civil War'' by C. Vann Woodward ** ''Power and Culture: The Japanese-American War, 1941–1945'' by
Akira Iriye is a historian of diplomatic history, international, and transnational history. He taught at University of Chicago and Harvard University until his retirement in 2005. In 1988 he served as president of the American Historical Association, the ...
** ''White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American & South African History'' by
George M. Fredrickson George M. Fredrickson (July 16, 1934 – February 25, 2008) was an American author, activist, historian, and professor. He was the Edgar E. Robinson Professor of United States History at Stanford University until his retirement in 2002. After hi ...
* 1983: '' The Transformation of Virginia, 1740–1790'' by Rhys L. Isaac ** ''Southern Honor: Ethics & Behavior in the Old South'' by
Bertram Wyatt-Brown Bertram Wyatt-Brown (March 19, 1932 – November 5, 2012) was a noted historian of the Southern United States. He was the Richard J. Milbauer Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida, where he taught from 1983-2004; he also taught at Case W ...
** ''The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789'' by
Robert Middlekauff Robert Lawrence Middlekauff (July 5, 1929 – March 10, 2021) was a professor of colonial and early United States history at the University of California, Berkeley. Career In 1983, Middlekauff became the President of Huntington Library, Art ...
* 1984: no award given * 1985: ''
Prophets of Regulation ''Prophets of Regulation: Charles Francis Adams, Louis D. Brandeis, James M. Landis, Alfred E. Kahn'' is a book by American business historian Thomas K. McCraw, published in 1984, which won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for History. The book is about ...
'' by
Thomas K. McCraw Thomas Kincaid McCraw (September 11, 1940 – November 3, 2012) was an American business historian and Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus at Harvard Business School, who won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' Prophets o ...
** ''The Crucible of Race'' by Joel Williamson ** ''The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians'' by
Francis Paul Prucha Francis Paul Prucha (January 4, 1921 – July 30, 2015) was an American historian, professor ''emeritus'' of history at Marquette University, and specialist in the relationship between the United States and Native Americans. His work, ''The Great ...
* 1986: '' ...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age'' by Walter A. McDougall ** ''Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America'' by Kerby A. Miller ** ''Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work and the Family from Slavery to the Present'' by
Jacqueline Jones Jacqueline Jones (born 17 June 1948) is an American social historian. She held the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas from 2008 to 2017 and is Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History at the University of Texas at Austin. ...
** ''Novus Ordo Seclorum: the Intellectual Origins of the Constitution'' by
Forrest McDonald Forrest McDonald, Jr. (January 7, 1927 – January 19, 2016) was an American historian who wrote extensively on the early national period of the United States, republicanism, and the presidency, but he is possibly best known for his polemic on the ...
* 1987: '' Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution'' by
Bernard Bailyn Bernard Bailyn (September 10, 1922 – August 7, 2020) was an American historian, author, and academic specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1953. Bailyn won the Pulitzer Pri ...
** ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' by
David Garrow David Jeffries Garrow (born May 11, 1953) is an American author and historian. He wrote the book ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' (1986), which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biogra ...
** ''Eisenhower: At War, 1943–1945'' by
David Eisenhower Dwight David Eisenhower II (born March 31, 1948) is an American author, public policy fellow, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and eponym of the U.S. presidential retreat Camp David. He is the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhow ...
* 1988: '' The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846–1876'' by
Robert V. Bruce Robert Vance Bruce (December 19, 1923 in Malden, Massachusetts – January 15, 2008 in Olympia, Washington) was an American historian specializing in the American Civil War, who won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book ''The Launching ...
** ''The Care of Strangers: The Rise of America's Hospital System'' by
Charles E. Rosenberg Charles Ernest Rosenberg (born 1936) is an American historian of medicine. He is Professor of the History of Science and Medicine and the Ernest E. Monrad Professor in the Social Sciences at Harvard University. Early life and education Rosenb ...
** ''
The Fall of the House of Labor ''The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865–1925'' is a book published in 1988 by Yale University historian David Montgomery (historian), David Montgomery. The book covers the changing tide of org ...
'' by David Montgomery * 1989: '' Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era'' by
James M. McPherson James Munro McPherson (born October 11, 1936) is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for '' Battle Cry of F ...
* 1989: '' Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–1963'' by
Taylor Branch Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume o ...
** ''
A Bright Shining Lie ''A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam'' (1988) is a book by Neil Sheehan, a former ''New York Times'' reporter, about U.S. Army lieutenant colonel John Paul Vann (killed in action) and the United States' involvement in ...
: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam'' by
Neil Sheehan Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan (October 27, 1936 – January 7, 2021) was an American journalist. As a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified ''Pentagon Papers'' from Daniel Ellsberg. His series of articles reve ...
** ''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877'' by
Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African-American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstru ...


1990s

* 1990: '' In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines'' by
Stanley Karnow Stanley Abram Karnow (February 4, 1925 – January 27, 2013) was an American journalist and historian. He is best known for his writings on the Vietnam War. Education and career After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in the China B ...
** ''American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm 1870–1970'' by
Thomas P. Hughes Thomas Parke Hughes (September 13, 1923 – February 3, 2014) was an American historian of technology. He was an emeritus professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and a visiting professor at MIT and Stanford. He received his Ph.D. ...
** ''The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume IV: From the American Revolution to World War I'' by
Hugh Honour Hugh Honour FRSL (26 September 1927 – 19 May 2016) was a British art historian, known for his writing partnership with John Fleming (art historian), John Fleming. Their ''A World History of Art'' (a.k.a. ''The Visual Arts: A History''), is now ...
* 1991: ''
A Midwife's Tale Martha Moore Ballard (February 9, 1735 – June 9, 1812) was an American midwife and healer. Unusually for the time, Ballard kept a diary with thousands of entries over nearly three decades, which has provided historians with invaluable insi ...
'' by
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born July 11, 1938) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian specializing in early America and the history of women, and a professor at Harvard University. Her approach to history has been described as a tribute to ...
** ''America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink'' by
Kenneth M. Stampp Kenneth Milton Stampp (12 July 191210 July 2009), Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley (1946–1983), was a celebrated historian of slavery, the American Civil War, and Reconstr ...
** ''Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919–1939'' by
Lizabeth Cohen Lizabeth Cohen is the current Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies in the History Department at Harvard University, as well as a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. From 2011-2018 she served as the Dean of Harvard's ...
** ''The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy'' by Hugh David Graham * 1992: '' The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties'' by
Mark E. Neely, Jr. Mark E. Neely Jr. (born November 10, 1944 in Amarillo, Texas) is an American historian best known as an authority on the U.S. Civil War in general and Abraham Lincoln in particular. Biography Neely was born in Texas. He earned his BA in Americ ...
** ''A Very Thin Line: The Iran-Contra Affairs'' by
Theodore Draper Theodore H. Draper (September 11, 1912 – February 21, 2006) was an American historian and political writer. Draper is best known for the 14 books he completed during his life, including work regarded as seminal on the formative period of the Ame ...
** ''Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West'' by
William Cronon William Cronon (born September 11, 1954 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an environmental historian and the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madi ...
** ''Profits in the Wilderness: Entrepreneurship and the Founding of New England Towns in the Seventeenth Century'' by John Frederick Martin ** ''The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815'' by Richard White * 1993: ''
The Radicalism of the American Revolution ''The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' is a nonfiction book by historian Gordon S. Wood, published by Vintage Books as a paperback in 1993. The first printing of the hardcover edition notes a publication date of December 1991. In the book, ...
'' by
Gordon S. Wood Gordon Stewart Wood (born November 27, 1933) is an American historian and professor at Brown University. He is a recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for ''The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1992). His book ''The Creation o ...
** '' Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America'' by
Garry Wills Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
** ''The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction'' by
Edward L. Ayers Edward Lynn "Ed" Ayers (born January 22, 1953; Asheville, North Carolina) is an American historian, professor, administrator, and university president. In July 2013, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama at a W ...
* 1994: no award given ** ''Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK'' by
Gerald Posner Gerald Leo Posner (born May 20, 1954) is an American investigative journalist and author of thirteen books, including ''Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK'' (1993), which explores the John F. Kennedy assassination, and ' ...
** ''Crime and Punishment in American History'' by
Lawrence M. Friedman Lawrence Meir Friedman (born April 2, 1930) is an American Legal education, law professor, historian of American legal history, and author of nonfiction and fiction books. He has been a member of the faculty at Stanford Law School since 1968. Bi ...
** ''William Faulkner and Southern History'' by Joel Williamson * 1995: '' No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II'' by
Doris Kearns Goodwin Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream ...
** ''Lincoln in American Memory'' by
Merrill D. Peterson Merrill Daniel Peterson (31 March 1921 – 23 September 2009) was a history professor at the University of Virginia and the editor of the prestigious Library of America edition of the selected writings of Thomas Jefferson. Peterson wrote several bo ...
** ''Stories of Scottsboro'' by James Goodman * 1996: '' William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic'' by Alan Taylor ** ''Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb'' by
Richard Rhodes Richard Lee Rhodes (born July 4, 1937) is an American historian, journalist, and author of both fiction and non-fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''The Making of the Atomic Bomb'' (1986), and most recently, ''Energy: A Human Histor ...
** ''The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic'' by
Lance Banning Lance Banning (January 24, 1942 – January 31, 2006) was an American historian who specialized in studying the politics of the United States' Founding Fathers. He taught mostly at the University of Kentucky. Life Banning was a native of Kan ...
* 1997: '' Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution'' by Jack N. Rakove ** ''Founding Mothers and Fathers'' by
Mary Beth Norton Mary Beth Norton (born 1943) is an American historian, specializing in American colonial history and well known for her work on women's history and the Salem witch trials. She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emeritus of American History at th ...
** ''The Battle for Christmas'' by
Stephen Nissenbaum Stephen Nissenbaum (A.B. Harvard College, 1961; M.A. Columbia University, 1963; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1968 ), is an American scholar, a Professor Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's History Department speci ...
* 1998: '' Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion'' by
Edward J. Larson Edward John Larson (born September 21, 1953, in Mansfield, Ohio) is an American historian and legal scholar. He is university professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He was formerly Herma ...
** '' Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America'' by
J. Anthony Lukas Jay Anthony Lukas (April 25, 1933 – June 5, 1997) was an American journalist and author, probably best known for his 1985 book '' Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families''. ''Common Ground'' is a classic study ...
** ''Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History'' by
Rogers Smith Rogers M. Smith (born September 20, 1953) is an American political scientist and author noted for his research and writing on American constitutional and political development and political thought, with a focus on issues of citizenship and rac ...
* 1999: '' Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898'' by
Edwin G. Burrows Edwin G. "Ted" Burrows (May 15, 1943 – May 4, 2018) was a Distinguished Professor of History at Brooklyn College. He is the co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898'' (1998), and author of ''Forgotte ...
and
Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
** ''In a Barren Land: American Indian Dispossession and Survival'' by
Paula Mitchell Marks Paula Mitchell Marks is an American historian specializing in U.S. women’s history and the history of the American West. She was a finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer_Prize_for_History, Pulitzer Prize for history for her book, ''In a Barren Land: Ame ...
** ''This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age'' by
William E. Burrows William E. Burrows is an American author and journalism professor emeritus. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 27, 1937, he was educated at Columbia University and became assistant professor of journalism in 1974. Life Burrows grew up in ...


2000s

* 2000: '' Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945'' by David M. Kennedy ** ''The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics and the Triumph of Anglo-America'' by Kevin Phillips ** ''Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier'' by
James H. Merrell James Hart Merrell (born 1953 in Minnesota) is the Lucy Maynard Salmon Professor of History at Vassar College. Merrell is primarily a scholar of early American history, and has written extensively on Native American history during the colonial er ...
* 2001: '' Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation'' by
Joseph J. Ellis Joseph John-Michael Ellis III (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the United States of America. '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' won a National Boo ...
** ''The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States'' by
Alexander Keyssar Alexander Keyssar (born May 13, 1947) is an American historian and the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Life Alex graduated summa cum laude with a degree in ...
** ''Way Out There in the Blue'' by Frances FitzGerald * 2002: '' The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America'' by
Louis Menand Louis Menand (; born January 21, 1952) is an American critic, essayist, and professor, best known for his Pulitzer-winning book ''The Metaphysical Club'' (2001), an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th and early 20th century America. L ...
** ''Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont, and the Sea Island Society in the Age of Segregation'' by J. William Harris ** '' Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America'' by
Daniel K. Richter Daniel Karl Richter (born October 15, 1954) is an American historian specializing in early American history, especially colonial North America and Native American history before 1800. He is the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of America ...
* 2003: '' An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942–1943'' by
Rick Atkinson Lawrence Rush "Rick" Atkinson IV (born November 15, 1952) is an American author, most recently of ''The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777'', the first volume in the Revolution Trilogy. He has won Pulit ...
** ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'' by
Philip Dray Philip Dray is an American writer and historian, known for his comprehensive analyses of American scientific, racial, and labor history. Awards Dray's work ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'' won the Robert F. Ken ...
** ''Rereading Sex: Battles Over Sexual Knowledge and Suppression in Nineteenth Century America'' by
Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz (born 31 Jan. 1942) is an American historian and the Sydenham Clark Parsons Professor of American Studies and History, emerita, at Smith College. Early life and education Horowitz was born on 31 Jan. 1942 in Shreveport, ...
* 2004: ''
A Nation Under Our Feet ''A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration'' is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book written in 2003 by Steven Hahn. The book is a history of the changing nature of African-American p ...
'' by
Steven Hahn Steven Howard Hahn (born 1951) is Professor of History at New York University. Life Hahn was born on July 18, 1951, in New York City. Educated at the University of Rochester, where he worked with Eugene Genovese and Herbert Gutman, Hahn receiv ...
** '' Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center'' by
Daniel Okrent Daniel Okrent (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and editing, editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of ''The New York Times'' newspaper, inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, and for writing several books ( ...
** '' They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967'' by
David Maraniss David Maraniss ( ; born 1949) is an American journalist and author, currently serving as an associate editor for ''The Washington Post''. Career ''The Washington Post'' assigned Maraniss the job of biographer for their coverage of 2008 president ...
* 2005: ''
Washington's Crossing Washington's Crossing is the location of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776 in the American Revolutionary War. This daring maneuver led to victory in the Battle of Trenton and altered the cou ...
'' by
David Hackett Fischer David Hackett Fischer (born December 2, 1935) is University Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University. Fischer's major works have covered topics ranging from large macroeconomic and cultural trends (''Albion's Seed,'' ''The Great Wave ( ...
** '' Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age'' by Kevin Boyle ** ''Conjectures of Order: Intellectual Life and the American South, 1810-1860, volumes 1 & 2'' by Michael O'Brien * 2006: '' Polio: An American Story'' by
David Oshinsky David M. Oshinsky (born 1944) is an American historian. He is the director of the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU School of Medicine and a professor in the Department of History at New York University. Background Oshinsky graduated from C ...
** ''New York Burning'' by
Jill Lepore Jill Lepore is an American historian and journalist. She is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'', where she has contributed since 2005. She writes about American ...
** ''The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln'' by
Sean Wilentz Robert Sean Wilentz (; born February 20, 1951) is the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1979. His primary research interests include U.S. social and political history in the ...
* 2007: ''
The Race Beat ''The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book written in 2006 by journalists Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff. The book is about the Civil Rights Movement in the United ...
'' by Gene Roberts and
Hank Klibanoff Hank Klibanoff (born March 26, 1949 in Florence, Alabama) is an American journalist, now a professor at Emory University. He and Gene Roberts won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for History for the book '' The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Str ...
** ''Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War'' by
Nathaniel Philbrick Nathaniel Philbrick (born June 11, 1956) is an American author of history, winner of the National Book Award, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His maritime history, '' In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,'' which tells ...
** ''Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005'' by James T. Campbell * 2008: '' What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' by
Daniel Walker Howe Daniel Walker Howe (born January 10, 1937) is an American historian who specializes in the early national period of U.S. history, with a particular interest in its intellectual and religious dimensions. He was Rhodes Professor of American Histo ...
** '' The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War'' by
David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and later ...
** ''Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power'' by
Robert Dallek Robert A. Dallek (born May 16, 1934) is an American historian specializing in the presidents of the United States, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He retired as a history professor at Boston ...
* 2009: '' The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family'' by
Annette Gordon-Reed Annette Gordon-Reed (born November 19, 1958) is an American historian and law professor. She is currently the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University and a professor of history in the university's Faculty of Arts & Sciences. She ...
** ''The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s'' by G. Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot ** ''This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War'' by
Drew Gilpin Faust Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust (born September 18, 1947) is an American historian and was the 28th president of Harvard University, the first woman to serve in that role. She was Harvard's first president since 1672 without an undergraduate or gradu ...


2010s

* 2010: '' Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World'' by
Liaquat Ahamed Liaquat Ahamed (born 14 November 1952 in Kenya) is an American author. Life and work Liaquat Ahamed was born in Kenya, where his grandfather had emigrated to from Gujarat by way of Zanzibar in the late 19th century.Gordon S. Wood Gordon Stewart Wood (born November 27, 1933) is an American historian and professor at Brown University. He is a recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for ''The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1992). His book ''The Creation o ...
** ''Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City'' by
Greg Grandin Greg Grandin (born 1962) is a professor of history at Yale University. He previously taught at New York University. He is author of a number of books, including ''Fordlândia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City'', which was ...
* 2011: '' The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery'' by
Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African-American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstru ...
** ''Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South'' by Stephanie McCurry ** ''Eden on the Charles: The Making of Boston'' by Michael J. Rawson * 2012: '' Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention'' by
Manning Marable William Manning Marable (May 13, 1950 – April 1, 2011) was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University.Grimes, William"Manning Marable, Historian and Social Critic, Dies at 60" ''The Ne ...
** ''Empires, Nations & Families: A History of the North American West, 1800-1860'' by Anne F. Hyde ** ''The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden'' by
Anthony Summers Anthony Bruce Summers (born 21 December 1942) is an Irish author. He is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist and has written ten non-fiction books. Career Summers is an Irish citizen who has been working with Robbyn Swan for more than thirty years befor ...
and
Robbyn Swan Robbyn Swan is an American journalist and author. Her book, ''The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden'', co-authored by her husband Anthony Summers, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. Early life and education ...
** ''Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America'' by Richard White * 2013: '' Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam'' by
Fredrik Logevall Fredrik Logevall is a Swedish-American historian and educator at Harvard University, where he is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and professor of history in the Harvard Faculty ...
** ''The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675'' by
Bernard Bailyn Bernard Bailyn (September 10, 1922 – August 7, 2020) was an American historian, author, and academic specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1953. Bailyn won the Pulitzer Pri ...
** ''Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History'' by John Fabian Witt * 2014: '' The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832'' by Alan Taylor ** ''A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama's America'' by
Jacqueline Jones Jacqueline Jones (born 17 June 1948) is an American social historian. She held the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas from 2008 to 2017 and is Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History at the University of Texas at Austin. ...
** ''Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident and the Illusion of Safety'' by
Eric Schlosser Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, such as in his books ''Fast Food Nation'' (2001), ''Reefer Madness'' (2003), and '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, ...
* 2015: '' Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People'' by
Elizabeth A. Fenn Elizabeth Anne Fenn (born September 22, 1959) is an American historian. Her book '' Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People'', won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for History. She serves as the Walter S. and Lucienne Driskill ...
** ''Empire of Cotton: A Global History'' by
Sven Beckert Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of American History at Harvard University, where he teaches the history of the United States in the nineteenth century, and global history. With Christine A. Desan, he is the co-director of the Program on t ...
** ''An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America'' by
Nick Bunker Nick Bunker (born November 25, 1958) is a British author, historian and a former journalist with the ''Financial Times'.'' Biography A Londoner by birth, Bunker attended Watford Boys Grammar School in Hertfordshire, England. Bunker attended Ki ...
* 2016: ''Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America'' by
T. J. Stiles T. J. Stiles (born 1964 in Foley, Minnesota) is an American biographer who lives in Berkeley, California. His book '' The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009) won a National Book Award and the ...
** ''Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War'' by Brian Matthew Jordan ** ''Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor'' by James M. Scott ** ''The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency'' by
Annie Jacobsen Annie Jacobsen (born June 28, 1967) is an American investigative journalist, author, and a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist. She writes and produces television including ''Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'' for Amazon Studios, and ''Clarice'' for CBS. She was ...
* 2017: '' Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy'' by
Heather Ann Thompson Heather Ann Thompson is an American historian, author, activist, professor, and speaker from Detroit, Michigan. Thompson won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for History, the 2016 Bancroft Prize, and other awards for her work '' Blood in the Water: The A ...
** ''Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It'' by
Larrie D. Ferreiro Larrie D. Ferreiro is a naval architect and historian. Early life He was born and raised on Long Island, New York, United States. His great-grandfather was an immigrant from Galicia, Spain. Career He completed his Ph.D at Imperial College Lo ...
** ''New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America'' by Wendy Warren * 2018: ''The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea'' by
Jack E. Davis Jack Emerson Davis is an author and professor of history in Florida. He holds the Rothman Family Endowed Chair in the Humanities and teaches environmental history and sustainability studies at the University of Florida. In 2002-2003, he taught o ...
** ''Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics'' by Kim Phillips-Fein ** ''Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots against Hollywood and America'' by
Steven J. Ross Steven Jay Ross (born Steven Jay Rechnitz; April 5, 1927 – December 20, 1992) was an American businessman and CEO of Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery), Warner Communications, and Kinney National Services, Inc. Ross is also known for p ...
* 2019: '' Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom'' by
David W. Blight David William Blight (born 1949) is the Sterling Professor of History, of African American Studies, and of American Studies and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. Previousl ...
** ''American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic'' by Victoria Johnson ** ''Civilizing Torture: An American Tradition'' by
W. Fitzhugh Brundage William Fitzhugh Brundage is an American historian, and William Umstead Distinguished Professor, at University of North Carolina. His works focus on white and black historical memory in the American South since the Civil War. Early life Brundage ...


2020s

*2020: '' Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America'' by W. Caleb McDaniel **''Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership'' by
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor __NOTOC__ Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is an American academic, writer, and activist. She is a professor of African American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of ''From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation'' (2016). For this book, ...
**''The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America'' by
Greg Grandin Greg Grandin (born 1962) is a professor of history at Yale University. He previously taught at New York University. He is author of a number of books, including ''Fordlândia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City'', which was ...
*2021: '' Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America'' by
Marcia Chatelain Marcia Chatelain (born 1979) is an American academic who serves as a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. In 2021, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History for her book '' Franchise: ...
**''The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America'' by
Eric Cervini Eric Cervini (born 1992) is an American historian and author of LGBTQ politics and culture. His 2020 book, ''The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America'', was a ''New York Times'' Bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitze ...
**''The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West'' by Megan Kate Nelson *2022: Two winners: ''Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America'' by Nicole Eustace, and ''Cuba: An American History'' by
Ada Ferrer Ada Ferrer is a Cuban-American historian. She is Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American Studies at New York University. She was awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book ''Cuba: An American History''. Early life Sh ...
**''Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction'' by
Kate Masur Kate Masur is an American historian and author. She is a professor of history at Northwestern University. Her book ''Until Justice Be Done'' was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the American Historical Association's Littleton-Griswold ...


Repeat winners

Five people have won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice. *
Margaret Leech Margaret Kernochan Leech (November 7, 1893 – February 24, 1974), also known as Margaret Pulitzer, was an American historian and fiction writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for History both in 1942 (''Reveille in Washington'', Harper) (first woma ...
, 1942 for ''Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865'' and 1960 for ''In the Days of McKinley'' *
Bernard Bailyn Bernard Bailyn (September 10, 1922 – August 7, 2020) was an American historian, author, and academic specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1953. Bailyn won the Pulitzer Pri ...
, 1968 for ''The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution'' and 1987 for ''Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution'' *
Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histor ...
, 1955 for ''Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History'' and 1976 for ''Lamy of Santa Fe'' * Alan Taylor, 1996 for ''William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic'' and 2014 for ''The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832'' *
Don E. Fehrenbacher Don Edward Fehrenbacher (August 21, 1920 – December 13, 1997) was an American historian. He wrote on politics, slavery, and Abraham Lincoln. He won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law ...
completed ''The Impending Crisis'' by David Potter, for which Potter posthumously won the 1977 prize, and won the 1979 prize himself for ''The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics''.


See also

*
List of history awards This list of history awards covers notable awards given to persons, a group of persons, or institutions, for their contribution to the study of history. It is organized by region. The entries name the prize and sponsoring organization, give notes ...


References


External links

* {{Pulitzer Prize for History
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
History awards Historiography Awards established in 1917 1917 establishments in New York City American history awards