Monday, March 18, 2013

Bancroft Prize to Witt, Bolster

Congratulations to legal historian John Fabian Witt (Yale Law School)! He has just been named a winner of the 2013 Bancroft Prize. Here's the text of the announcement:
Columbia University announced today that two acclaimed works will be awarded the 2013 Bancroft Prize: a gripping and eloquent history of the human impact on the ocean, and a persuasively argued history of the idea that conflict among nations can be regulated by law.
The winners are W. Jeffrey Bolster for The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012) and John Fabian Witt for Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History (Free Press, 2012).
The winning works, while different in subject matter, demonstrate the powerful impact of re-examination of historical events in an ever-changing, ever-evolving world.
The Bancroft Prize is awarded annually by the trustees of Columbia University.  Winners are judged in terms of the scope, significance, depth of research, and richness of interpretation they present in the areas of American history and diplomacy.  There were 223 books nominated that were considered for the 2013 prize.

Columbia Provost John H. Coatsworth will present the awards at the Bancroft Prize dinner next month, hosted by the department of history and Columbia University Libraries. The Bancroft Prize, which includes an award of $10,000 to each author, is administered by University Librarian and Vice President for Information Services, James G. Neal.

Historical scholarship with innovative and new and rigorous examinations and exciting boundary challenges, as evidenced by the content and scope of this year's Bancroft Prize winners, is so worthy of our celebration and recognition.  We applaud the excellence in research, writing and thought demonstrated by the two works selected this year,” Neal said.
Hat tip: H-Law