Lionel Gelber Prize
Encyclopedia
The Lionel Gelber Prize was founded in 1989 by Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber. The prize is a literary award for the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues. A prize of $15,000 is awarded to the winner. The award is presented annually by the Lionel Gelber Foundation, in partnership with Foreign Policy Magazine and the Munk school of Global affairs at the University of Toronto.
Recipients are judged by a jury panel of experts from Canada
, Britain
, and the United States
. The award has been described by The Economist
as "the world's most important award for non-fiction". Past winners have included Lawrence Wright
, Jonathan Spence
, David McCullough
, Kanan Makiya
, Michael Ignatieff
, Eric Hobsbawm
, Robert Kinloch Massie
, Adam Hochschild
(two time winner), Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky
, Walter Russell Mead
, and Steve Coll
.
Recipients are judged by a jury panel of experts from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The award has been described by The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
as "the world's most important award for non-fiction". Past winners have included Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, screenwriter, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law...
, Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Spence
Jonathan D. Spence is a British-born historian and public intellectual specializing in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most famous book is The Search for Modern China, which has become one of the standard texts on the last several...
, David McCullough
David McCullough
David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....
, Kanan Makiya
Kanan Makiya
Kanan Makiya is an Iraqi academic, who gained British nationality in 1982. He is the Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Brandeis University...
, Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
, Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
, Robert Kinloch Massie
Robert Kinloch Massie
Robert Kinloch "Bob" Massie IV is an American Episcopal priest, politician, author, and social activist—best known for his opposition to South Africa's apartheid regime. He is the son of historians Robert K...
, Adam Hochschild
Adam Hochschild
Adam Hochschild is an American author and journalist.-Biography:Hochschild was born in New York City. As a college student, he spent a summer working on an anti-government newspaper in South Africa and subsequently worked briefly as a civil rights worker in Mississippi in 1964...
(two time winner), Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky
Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky
Robert Jacob Alexander, Baron Skidelsky FBA is a British economic historian of Russian origin and the author of an award-winning major three volume biography of John Maynard Keynes. He read history at Jesus College, Oxford...
, Walter Russell Mead
Walter Russell Mead
Walter Russell Mead is James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College and Editor-at-Large of The American Interest magazine, and is recognized as one of the country's leading students of American foreign policy . Until 2010, Mead was the Henry A. Kissinger Senior...
, and Steve Coll
Steve Coll
Steve Coll is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and writer. Coll is currently president and CEO of the New America Foundation. Prior to assuming that post on September 17, 2007, Coll was a staff writer for The New Yorker, and served as managing editor of The Washington Post from 1998 to...
.
List of Award Winners
- 2011: Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America by Shelagh Grant.
- 2010: The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China by Jay Taylor.
- 2009: A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East by Sir Lawrence Freedman.
- 2008: The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About ItThe Bottom BillionThe Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It is a 2007 book by Paul Collier, Professor of Economics at Oxford University, exploring the reasons why impoverished countries fail to progress despite international aid and support...
by Paul CollierPaul CollierPaul Collier, CBE is a Professor of Economics, Director for the Centre for the Study of African Economies at The University of Oxford and Fellow of St Antony's College. From 1998 – 2003 he was the director of the Development Research Group of the World Bank.-Life:Collier is a specialist in...
. - 2007: The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11The Looming TowerThe Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 is a historical look at the way in which Al-Qaeda came into being, the background for various terrorist attacks and how they were investigated, and the events that led to the September 11 attacks...
by Lawrence WrightLawrence WrightLawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, screenwriter, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law...
. - 2006: Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves by Adam HochschildAdam HochschildAdam Hochschild is an American author and journalist.-Biography:Hochschild was born in New York City. As a college student, he spent a summer working on an anti-government newspaper in South Africa and subsequently worked briefly as a civil rights worker in Mississippi in 1964...
. - 2004: Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve CollSteve CollSteve Coll is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and writer. Coll is currently president and CEO of the New America Foundation. Prior to assuming that post on September 17, 2007, Coll was a staff writer for The New Yorker, and served as managing editor of The Washington Post from 1998 to...
. - 2003: America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy by Ivo H. DaalderIvo H. DaalderIvo H. Daalder, has been the U.S. Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since May 2009. He is a specialist in European security...
and James M. LindsayJames M. LindsayJames M. Lindsay , is the Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy. He is also the award-winning coauthor of and former Director for Global Issues and Multilateral Affairs at the... - 2002: Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World by Walter Russell MeadWalter Russell MeadWalter Russell Mead is James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College and Editor-at-Large of The American Interest magazine, and is recognized as one of the country's leading students of American foreign policy . Until 2010, Mead was the Henry A. Kissinger Senior...
. - 2001: John Maynard Keynes, Fighting for Britain 1937-1946 by Lord Robert Skidelsky.
- 2000: A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative HistoryA Great Wall: Six Presidents and ChinaA Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History is a history of international relations written by journalist Patrick Tyler. The book details high level relations between the United States and China from the Nixon administration to the Clinton Administration...
by Patrick TylerPatrick TylerPatrick E. Tyler is an author and formerly chief correspondent for the New York Times. He is the author of three books: A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East from the Cold War to the War on Terror, A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China, a history of U.S.-China relations since...
. - 1999: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism In Colonial Africa by Adam HochschildAdam HochschildAdam Hochschild is an American author and journalist.-Biography:Hochschild was born in New York City. As a college student, he spent a summer working on an anti-government newspaper in South Africa and subsequently worked briefly as a civil rights worker in Mississippi in 1964...
. - 1998: Loosing the Bonds: The United States and South Africa In the Apartheid Years by Robert Kinloch MassieRobert Kinloch MassieRobert Kinloch "Bob" Massie IV is an American Episcopal priest, politician, author, and social activist—best known for his opposition to South Africa's apartheid regime. He is the son of historians Robert K...
. - 1997: Aftermath: The Remnants of War by Donovan WebsterDonovan WebsterDonovan Webster is a journalist and author. A former senior editor for Outside magazine, he now writes for National Geographic, Smithsonian, Best Life, Vanity Fair, Men's Health, Garden & Gun, and The New York Times Magazine, among other publications...
. - 1996: Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev by Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov
- 1995: Age of Extremes: The Short 20th Century by Eric HobsbawmEric HobsbawmEric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
. - 1994: Blood and Belonging: Journeys Into the New Nationalism by Michael IgnatieffMichael IgnatieffMichael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
. - 1993: Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World by Kanan MakiyaKanan MakiyaKanan Makiya is an Iraqi academic, who gained British nationality in 1982. He is the Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Brandeis University...
. - 1992: Truman by David McCulloughDavid McCulloughDavid Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....
. - 1991: Code of Peace: Ethics and Security in the World of Warlord States by Dorothy V. Jones.
- 1990: The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence.