Freedom, Independence and Choice: Finalists for the 2025 Cundill History Prize Announced
The Cundill History Prize, the world’s leading prize for a work of history written or translated into English, has named its 2025 finalists.
Marlene L. Daut, Lyndal Roper, and Sophia Rosenfeld have been selected by an international jury of leading historians and writers, chaired by Ada Ferrer (Princeton University). The finalists are in contention for the grand prize of US$75,000, one of the largest sums awarded to a single author anywhere in the world. The other two finalists will each receive an award of US$10,000. The prize is administered by McGill University, and the winner will be announced at the Cundill Festival in Montreal on Thursday, October 30.
From revolutions that changed the world, to the fight for justice and equality, to the rise of personal choice as a cornerstone of modern life, these three books offer profound insights into how human beings have defined themselves through freedom and independence.
- The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut (Knopf)
A dramatic biography of Henry Christophe, the most pivotal figure of the Haitian Revolution, who rose from enslavement to become Haiti’s first and only king. Daut’s work uncovers a story of Black freedom and self-determination that reverberated across the Atlantic world.
- Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War by Lyndal Roper (John Murray Press/Basic Books)
Roper examines the sixteenth-century uprising that shook Europe to its core. Told through the voices of the peasants themselves, this deeply researched and vivid account captures the revolutionary spirit of one of the most significant popular movements before the French Revolution.
- The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life by Sophia Rosenfeld (Princeton University Press)
Rosenfeld traces the history of personal choice over four centuries, exploring how it came to define modern ideas of freedom. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from novels and restaurant menus to the latest scientific findings, The Age of Choice urges us to rethink the meaning of choice and its promise and limitations in modern life.
Read the rest of the announcement here: