The Wolfson History Prize 2021
Explorations of revolution in Haiti, children after the Holocaust, battles in the Atlantic, working motherhood, artworks in Ravenna and book burning are on the 2021 shortlist.
Toussaint Louverture's revolutionary leadership in Haiti; Ravenna's place as a hub of culture and a meeting point of east and west; how motherhood and work have changed from Victorian Manchester factories to the modern boardroom; a 3,000 year history of attacks on libraries and book burnings; battles in the Atlantic from the Vikings to conflicts over slavery in the Caribbean and on the North American coast; recovering the voices of children who experienced the Holocaust: Rana Mitter looks at how the six authors shortlisted for the UK's most prestigious history prize have tackled these topics.
The books shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2021 are:
Survivors: Children’s Lives after the Holocaust by Rebecca Clifford
Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh
Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe by Judith Herrin
Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood by Helen McCarthy
Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge under Attack by Richard Ovenden
Atlantic Wars: From the Fifteenth Century to the Age of Revolution by Geoffrey Plank
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 9 June 2021 in a virtual ceremony. The winner will be awarded Β£40,000 and each of the shortlisted authors receives Β£4,000.
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
In the Free Thinking archives you can find interviews with the authors shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in previous years and a host of discussions about history looking at topics including Napoleon, John Henry Newman, Adnam Menderes and Turkish history, Northern Ireland, what we can learn from the upheavals of industrial revolution and empires ending, war in fact and fiction, Churchill, family ties and reshaping history with guests including Margaret McMillan, Tom Holland, Jared Diamond, Priya Atwal, Camilla Townsend, Ruth Scurr, Roy Foster and David Reynolds amongst others.
Last on
More episodes
Broadcast
- Tue 18 May 2021 22:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
Featured in...
Prose and Poetry—Free Thinking
Fact, fiction, key authors and contemporary voices from around the world
Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019
Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival
Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life