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
