Three finalists have been selected for the 2025 Cundill History Prize, administered by McGill University. The winner receives $75,000 and the two runners-up $10,000 each. The winner will be announced October 30.
The finalists, with organizers' comments:
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut (Knopf). "A dramatic biography of Henry Christophe, the most pivotal figure of the Haitian Revolution, who rose from enslavement to become Haiti's first and only king. Daut's work uncovers a story of Black freedom and self-determination that reverberated across the Atlantic world."
Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War by Lyndal Roper (John Murray Press). "Roper examines the sixteenth-century uprising that shook Europe to its core. Told through the voices of the peasants themselves, this deeply researched and vivid account captures the revolutionary spirit of one of the most significant popular movements before the French Revolution."
The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life by Sophia Rosenfeld (Princeton University Press). "Rosenfeld traces the history of personal choice over four centuries, exploring how it came to define modern ideas of freedom. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from novels and restaurant menus to the latest scientific findings, The Age of Choice urges us to rethink the meaning of choice and its promise and limitations in modern life."
---
Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist's Patients Taught Him About the Brain by Masud Husain (Canongate) has won the £25,000 (about $33,750) 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, which honors "non-fiction books that use captivating narratives to open science up to a wider audience and embody the joy of science writing."
The Royal Society praised the book for "its combination of beautiful storytelling, cutting-edge science told in an engaging way, and above all for its humanity. Through the stories of seven of his patients, and in a style reminiscent of the late Oliver Sacks, Husain explores how the brain shapes our identity, and what happens when this identity is disrupted by neurological disorders. As both a clinical neurologist and a neuroscientist, Husain bridges the gap between the people's conditions and the most up-to-date research and available treatments."
Chair of judges Dr. Sandra Knapp added, "This book is a beautiful exploration of how problems in the brain can cause people to lose their sense of self, such that they become unrecognisable to loved ones or at times rejected by a society to which they felt they belonged. All this is skilfully interwoven with Husain's personal story of moving to the U.K. as an immigrant in the 1960s, where he found himself grappling with his own sense of belonging."