Pulitzer Prize for History

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About this list

Pulitzer Prize, 107 Books

The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Two people have won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice; Margaret Leech, for Reveille in Washington, 1860-1865 in 1941 and In the Days of McKinley in 1960, and Bernard Bailyn, for The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (1968) and Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution (1987).

This list is a yearly book award, and was added to this site over 12 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
14984 The Hemingses of Monticello Annette Gordon-Reed 2008 American English
9280 What Hath God Wrought Daniel Walker Howe 2007 American English
17131 The Race Beat Gene Roberts, Hank Klibanoff 2006 American English
13703 Polio David M. Oshinsky 2005 American English
2961 Jefferson and His Time Dumas Malone 1948 American English
2382 Battle Cry of Freedom James M. McPherson 1988 American English
6248 Parting the Waters Taylor Branch 1988 American English
2070 The Age of Reform Richard Hofstadter 1955 American English
14984 A Stillness at Appomattox Bruce Catton 1953 American English
10450 Washington's Crossing David Hackett Fischer 2004 American English
14984 A Nation under Our Feet Steven Hahn 2003 American English
17131 An Army at Dawn Rick Atkinson 2002 American English
14984 The Metaphysical Club Louis Menand 2001 American English
14232 Founding Brothers Joseph Ellis 2000 American English
17131 Freedom From Fear David M. Kennedy 1999 American English
14984 Gotham Edwin G. Burrows 1998 American English
17131 Summer for the Gods Edward Larson 1997 American English
17131 Original Meanings Jack N. Rakove 1996 American English
14984 William Cooper's Town Alan Taylor 1995 American English
4576 No Ordinary Time Doris Kearns Goodwin 1994 American English
17131 The Radicalism of the American Revolution Gordon S. Wood 1992 American English
17131 The Fate of Liberty Mark E. Neely, Jr 1991 American English
9847 A Midwife's Tale Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 1990 American English
17131 In Our Image Stanley Karnow 1989 American English
17131 The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846-1876 Robert V. Bruce 1987 American English
17131 With Americans of Past and Present Days Jean Jules Jusserand 1916 French English
17131 A History of the Civil War James Ford Rhodes 1917 American English
17131 The War with Mexico Justin H. Smith 1919 American English
17131 The Victory at Sea William Sowden Sims 1920 American English
17131 The Founding of New England James Truslow Adams 1921 American English
17131 The Supreme Court in United States History Charles Warren 1922 American English
17131 The American Revolution Charles Howard McIlwain 1923 American English
17131 History of the American Frontier Frederic L. Paxson 1924 American English
17131 A History of the United States Edward Channing 1905 American English
17131 Pinckney's Treaty Samuel Flagg Bemis 1926 American English
2622 Main Currents in American Thought Vernon L. Parrington 1927 American English
17131 The Organization and Administration of the Union Army Fred Albert Shannon 1928 American English
17131 The War of Independence Claude H. Van Tyne 1929 American English
17131 The Coming of the War, 1914 Bernadotte E. Schmitt 1930 American English
17131 My Experiences in the World War John J. Pershing 1931 American English
17131 The Significance of Sections in American History Frederick J. Turner 1932 American English
17131 The People's Choice Herbert Agar 1933 American English
17131 The Colonial Period of American History Charles McLean Andrews 1934 American English
17131 A Constitutional History of the United States Andrew C. McLaughlin 1935 American English
7664 The Flowering of New England Van Wyck Brooks 1936 American English
17131 The Road to Reunion Paul Herman Buck 1937 American English
17131 A History of American Magazines Frank Luther Mott 1930 American English
11577 Abraham Lincoln Carl Sandburg 1939 American English
17131 The Atlantic Migration Marcus Lee Hansen 1940 American English
5917 Reveille in Washington Margaret Leech 1941 American English
17131 Paul Revere and the World He Lived In Esther Forbes 1942 American English
17131 The Growth of American Thought Merle Curti 1943 American English
17131 Unfinished Business Stephen Bonsal 1944 American English
2418 The Age of Jackson Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 1945 American English
17131 Scientists Against Time James Phinney Baxter III 1946 American English
17131 Across the Wide Missouri Bernard A. DeVoto 1947 American English
17131 The Disruption of American Democracy Roy Franklin Nichols 1948 American English
17131 Art and Life in America Oliver W. Larkin 1949 American English
17131 The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period 1815-1840 R. Carlyle Buley 1950 American English
17131 The Uprooted Oscar Handlin 1951 American English
17131 The Era of Good Feelings George Dangerfield 1952 British English
14897 Great River Paul Horgan 1954 American English
14984 Russia Leaves the War George F. Kennan 1956 American English
17131 Banks and Politics in America Bray Hammond 1957 American English
17131 The Republican Era Leonard D. White, Jean Schneider 1958 American English
17131 In the Days of McKinley Margaret Leech 1959 American English
17131 Between War and Peace Herbert Feis 1960 American English
17131 The Triumphant Empire Lawrence H. Gipson 1948 American English
17131 Washington, Village and Capital, 1800-1878 Constance McLaughlin Green 1962 American English
17131 Puritan Village Sumner Chilton Powell 1963 American English
17131 The Greenback Era Irwin Unger 1964 American English
17131 The Life of the Mind in America Perry Miller 1965 American English
17131 Exploration and Empire William H. Goetzmann 1966 American English
14897 The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Bernard Bailyn 1967 American English
17131 Origins of the Fifth Amendment Leonard W. Levy 1968 American English
6164 Present at the Creation Dean Acheson 1969 American English
6145 Roosevelt James MacGregor Burns 1970 American English
17131 Neither Black Nor White Carl N. Degler 1971 American English
17131 People of Paradox Michael Kammen 1972 American English
17131 The Americans Daniel J. Boorstin 1973 American English
17131 Lamy of Santa Fe Paul Horgan 1975 American English
17131 The Impending Crisis, 1841-1867 David M. Potter 1976 American English
17131 The Visible Hand Alfred D. Chandler, Jr 1977 American English
17131 The Dred Scott Case Don E. Fehrenbacher 1978 American English
17131 Been in the Storm So Long Leon F. Litwack 1979 American English
17131 American Education Lawrence A. Cremin 1980 American English
3512 Mary Chesnut's Civil War Mary Boykin Chesnut 1981 American English
17131 The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790 Rhys L. Isaac 1982 American English
17131 Prophets of Regulation Thomas K. McCraw 1984 American English
17131 The Heavens and the Earth Walter A. McDougall 1985 American English
17131 Voyagers to the West Bernard Bailyn 1986 American English
10450 Lords of Finance Liaquat Ahamed 2009 American English
14984 The Fiery Trial Eric Foner 2010 American English
9261 Malcolm X Manning Marable 2011 American English
17131 Embers of War Fredrik Logevall 2012 American English
14984 The Internal Enemy Alan Taylor 2013 American English
17131 Encounters at the Heart of the World Elizabeth A. Fenn 2014 American English
17131 Custer's Trials T. J. Stiles 2015 American English
14984 Blood in the Water Heather Ann Thompson 2016 American English
17131 The Gulf Jack E. Davis 2017 American English
2992 Frederick Douglass David W. Blight 2018 American English
17131 Sweet Taste of Liberty W. Caleb McDaniel 2019 American English
17131 Franchise Marcia Chatelain 2020 American English
17131 Covered With Night Nicole Eustace 2021 American English
17131 Cuba Ada Ferrer 2021 American English
17131 Freedom's Dominion Jefferson Cowie 2023 American English
17131 No Right To An Honest Living Jacqueline Jones 2023 Unknown English