Peter Frankopan to chair 2020 Cundill History Prize jury

Oxford University professor Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads (Bloomsbury), will chair the jury for the 2020 Cundill History Prize.

The award-winning, critically acclaimed British historian will chair a panel of leading historians and authors to decide the shortlist, finalists and winner of the leading international prize for history writing, administered by McGill University.

Frankopan said: “I‚Äôm thrilled to be involved with the Cundill History Prize for 2020, and delighted to chair the jury. This is something of a golden age for history writing. While it can be hard to separate outstanding books that look at different aspects of the past in different ways, it is wonderful to have the chance to celebrate and reward first class scholarship that is accessible and exciting for specialists and the general reader alike. In our noisy, complex and disruptive age, making sense of the world around us is more important than ever.”

Antonia Maioni, dean of the faculty of arts at McGill University, said: “It is fantastic to have Peter Frankopan on board with us‚Äìas our distinguished 2020 Chair of the Jury. The Cundill History Prize attracts the best history writing in English, wherever it is being written in the world, as well as translations into English.”

The $75,000 Cundill History Prize is accepting submissions from today (Tuesday 25th February), and international publishers have until Monday, April 20 to submit their best works of history. The prize is open to authors from anywhere in the world–regardless of nationality or place of residence–as well as translations into English.

Following last year’s roadshow, which went from New York to Toronto to Montreal, the prize will return to New York for its 2020 shortlist announcement in September. The finalists will be announced in October at a special event the Frankfurt Book Fair, where Canada is the Guest of Honour in 2020. The Cundill History Prize Gala and winner announcement will take place in November in Montreal, with a full programme of events still to be announced.

British author and translator of Chinese literature Julia Lovell won the 2019 Cundill History Prize for Maoism: A Global History (The Bodley Head).