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
14985 The Hemingses of Monticello Annette Gordon-Reed 2008 American English
9282 What Hath God Wrought Daniel Walker Howe 2007 American English
17162 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
2383 Battle Cry of Freedom James M. McPherson 1988 American English
6249 Parting the Waters Taylor Branch 1988 American English
2071 The Age of Reform Richard Hofstadter 1955 American English
14985 A Stillness at Appomattox Bruce Catton 1953 American English
10453 Washington's Crossing David Hackett Fischer 2004 American English
14985 A Nation under Our Feet Steven Hahn 2003 American English
17162 An Army at Dawn Rick Atkinson 2002 American English
14985 The Metaphysical Club Louis Menand 2001 American English
14232 Founding Brothers Joseph Ellis 2000 American English
17162 Freedom From Fear David M. Kennedy 1999 American English
14985 Gotham Edwin G. Burrows 1998 American English
17162 Summer for the Gods Edward Larson 1997 American English
17162 Original Meanings Jack N. Rakove 1996 American English
14985 William Cooper's Town Alan Taylor 1995 American English
4578 No Ordinary Time Doris Kearns Goodwin 1994 American English
17162 The Radicalism of the American Revolution Gordon S. Wood 1992 American English
17162 The Fate of Liberty Mark E. Neely, Jr 1991 American English
9849 A Midwife's Tale Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 1990 American English
17162 In Our Image Stanley Karnow 1989 American English
17162 The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846-1876 Robert V. Bruce 1987 American English
17162 With Americans of Past and Present Days Jean Jules Jusserand 1916 French English
17162 A History of the Civil War James Ford Rhodes 1917 American English
17162 The War with Mexico Justin H. Smith 1919 American English
17162 The Victory at Sea William Sowden Sims 1920 American English
17162 The Founding of New England James Truslow Adams 1921 American English
17162 The Supreme Court in United States History Charles Warren 1922 American English
17162 The American Revolution Charles Howard McIlwain 1923 American English
17162 History of the American Frontier Frederic L. Paxson 1924 American English
17162 A History of the United States Edward Channing 1905 American English
17162 Pinckney's Treaty Samuel Flagg Bemis 1926 American English
2622 Main Currents in American Thought Vernon L. Parrington 1927 American English
17162 The Organization and Administration of the Union Army Fred Albert Shannon 1928 American English
17162 The War of Independence Claude H. Van Tyne 1929 American English
17162 The Coming of the War, 1914 Bernadotte E. Schmitt 1930 American English
17162 My Experiences in the World War John J. Pershing 1931 American English
17162 The Significance of Sections in American History Frederick J. Turner 1932 American English
17162 The People's Choice Herbert Agar 1933 American English
17162 The Colonial Period of American History Charles McLean Andrews 1934 American English
17162 A Constitutional History of the United States Andrew C. McLaughlin 1935 American English
7665 The Flowering of New England Van Wyck Brooks 1936 American English
17162 The Road to Reunion Paul Herman Buck 1937 American English
17162 A History of American Magazines Frank Luther Mott 1930 American English
11579 Abraham Lincoln Carl Sandburg 1939 American English
17162 The Atlantic Migration Marcus Lee Hansen 1940 American English
5918 Reveille in Washington Margaret Leech 1941 American English
17162 Paul Revere and the World He Lived In Esther Forbes 1942 American English
17162 The Growth of American Thought Merle Curti 1943 American English
17162 Unfinished Business Stephen Bonsal 1944 American English
2419 The Age of Jackson Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 1945 American English
17162 Scientists Against Time James Phinney Baxter III 1946 American English
17162 Across the Wide Missouri Bernard A. DeVoto 1947 American English
17162 The Disruption of American Democracy Roy Franklin Nichols 1948 American English
17162 Art and Life in America Oliver W. Larkin 1949 American English
17162 The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period 1815-1840 R. Carlyle Buley 1950 American English
17162 The Uprooted Oscar Handlin 1951 American English
17162 The Era of Good Feelings George Dangerfield 1952 British English
14899 Great River Paul Horgan 1954 American English
14985 Russia Leaves the War George F. Kennan 1956 American English
17162 Banks and Politics in America Bray Hammond 1957 American English
17162 The Republican Era Leonard D. White, Jean Schneider 1958 American English
17162 In the Days of McKinley Margaret Leech 1959 American English
17162 Between War and Peace Herbert Feis 1960 American English
17162 The Triumphant Empire Lawrence H. Gipson 1948 American English
17162 Washington, Village and Capital, 1800-1878 Constance McLaughlin Green 1962 American English
17162 Puritan Village Sumner Chilton Powell 1963 American English
17162 The Greenback Era Irwin Unger 1964 American English
17162 The Life of the Mind in America Perry Miller 1965 American English
17162 Exploration and Empire William H. Goetzmann 1966 American English
14899 The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Bernard Bailyn 1967 American English
17162 Origins of the Fifth Amendment Leonard W. Levy 1968 American English
6165 Present at the Creation Dean Acheson 1969 American English
6146 Roosevelt James MacGregor Burns 1970 American English
17162 Neither Black Nor White Carl N. Degler 1971 American English
17162 People of Paradox Michael Kammen 1972 American English
17162 The Americans Daniel J. Boorstin 1973 American English
17162 Lamy of Santa Fe Paul Horgan 1975 American English
17162 The Impending Crisis, 1841-1867 David M. Potter 1976 American English
17162 The Visible Hand Alfred D. Chandler, Jr 1977 American English
17162 The Dred Scott Case Don E. Fehrenbacher 1978 American English
17162 Been in the Storm So Long Leon F. Litwack 1979 American English
17162 American Education Lawrence A. Cremin 1980 American English
3513 Mary Chesnut's Civil War Mary Boykin Chesnut 1981 American English
17162 The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790 Rhys L. Isaac 1982 American English
17162 Prophets of Regulation Thomas K. McCraw 1984 American English
17162 The Heavens and the Earth Walter A. McDougall 1985 American English
17162 Voyagers to the West Bernard Bailyn 1986 American English
10453 Lords of Finance Liaquat Ahamed 2009 American English
14985 The Fiery Trial Eric Foner 2010 American English
9262 Malcolm X Manning Marable 2011 American English
17162 Embers of War Fredrik Logevall 2012 American English
14985 The Internal Enemy Alan Taylor 2013 American English
17162 Encounters at the Heart of the World Elizabeth A. Fenn 2014 American English
17162 Custer's Trials T. J. Stiles 2015 American English
14985 Blood in the Water Heather Ann Thompson 2016 American English
17162 The Gulf Jack E. Davis 2017 American English
2992 Frederick Douglass David W. Blight 2018 American English
17162 Sweet Taste of Liberty W. Caleb McDaniel 2019 American English
17162 Franchise Marcia Chatelain 2020 American English
17162 Covered With Night Nicole Eustace 2021 American English
17162 Cuba Ada Ferrer 2021 American English
17162 Freedom's Dominion Jefferson Cowie 2023 American English
17162 No Right To An Honest Living Jacqueline Jones 2023 Unknown English