In celebration of George Washington’s 285th birthday, seven books published in 2016 by historians have been named finalists for the George Washington Prize. The annual award recognizes the past year’s best-written works on the nation’s founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of early American history. Created in 2005 by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and Washington College, the $50,000 George Washington Prize is one of the nation’s largest and most notable literary awards, and this year’s finalists include past Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners.
The 2017 George Washington Prize finalists are:
T.H. Breen, “George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation” (Simon and Schuster)
Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination” (Liveright Publishing)
Jane Kamensky, “A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley” (W.W. Norton)
Michael J. Klarman, “The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution” (Oxford University Press)
Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone, “Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle” (University of Oklahoma Press)
Nathaniel Philbrick, “Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution” (Viking)
Alan Taylor, “American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804” (W.W. Norton)
A jury comprised of historians David Preston, Kathleen DuVal, and Nick Bunker, selected the finalists from a field of nearly 60 books. The winner of the 2017 prize will be announced, and all finalists recognized, at a black-tie gala on Thursday, May 25 at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
More information about the George Washington Prize is available at washcoll.edu/gwbookprize.