The Lionel Gelber Prize is a literary award for English non-fiction books on foreign policy.[1] Founded in 1989 by Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber, the prize honors "the world's best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues."[2] A prize of CA$50,000, is awarded to the winner. The award is presented annually by the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Recipients are judged by an international jury of experts. In 1999, The Economist called the award "the world's most important award for non-fiction".[3] Past winners have included, Lawrence Wright, Jonathan Spence, David McCullough, Kanan Makiya, Michael Ignatieff, Eric Hobsbawm, Robert Kinloch Massie, Adam Hochschild (a two-time winner), Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, Walter Russell Mead, Chrystia Freeland, and Steve Coll.

Lionel Gelber

Lionel Gelber was a Canadian author, scholar, historian, and diplomat. During his career, he wrote eight books and many articles on foreign relations, including The Rise of Anglo-American Friendship: a Study of World Politics 1898 to 1906,[4] which examined the "rise of American global power, with all the risk, hope and complexity such a geopolitical shift entailed at the beginning of the 20th Century."[4] He followed this work with Peace by Power: The Plain Man's Guide to the Key Issues of the War and the Post-War World in 1942 and America in Britain's Place in 1961.[4] Gelber studied at Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto before winning the Rhodes Scholarship and beginning his studies at Balliol College, Oxford.[4] In 1989, the Lionel Gelber prize was created to honor works published in Gelber's field.[4]

Recipients

Award winners
Year Author Title Result Ref.
1990 Jonathan D. Spence The Search for Modern China Winner
1991 Dorothy V. Jones Code of Peace: Ethics and Security in the World of Warlord States Winner
1992 David McCullough Truman Winner
1993 Kanan Makiya Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World Winner
1994 Michael Ignatieff Blood and Belonging: Journeys Into the New Nationalism Winner
1995 Eric Hobsbawm Age of Extremes: The Short 20th Century Winner
1996 Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev Winner
1997 Donovan Webster Aftermath: The Remnants of War Winner
1998 Robert Kinloch Massie Loosing the Bonds: The United States and South Africa In the Apartheid Years Winner
1999 Adam Hochschild King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism In Colonial Africa Winner
2000 Patrick Tyler A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History Winner
2001 Robert Skidelsky John Maynard Keynes, Fighting for Britain 1937-1946 Winner
2002 Walter Russell Mead Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World Winner
2003 Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy Winner
2004 Steve Coll Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 Winner [5]
2006 Adam Hochschild Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves Winner
2007 Lawrence Wright The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 Winner
2008 Paul Collier The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It Winner
2009 Lawrence Freedman A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East Winner
2010 Jay Taylor The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China Winner [6]
2011 Shelagh Grant Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America Winner [7]
Serhii M. Plokhy Yalta: The Price of Peace Shortlist [8]
Ian Morris Why the West Rules—For Now Shortlist [8]
Doug Saunders Arrival City: The Final Migration and our Next World Shortlist [8]
Nick Cullather The Hungry World: America’s Cold War Battle Against Poverty in Asia Shortlist [8]
2012 Ezra F. Vogel Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China Winner [9][10]
Amanda Foreman A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War Shortlist [11][12]
Frederick Kempe Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth Shortlist [11][12]
John Lewis Gaddis George F. Kennan: An American Life Shortlist [11][12]
Henry Kissinger On China Shortlist [11][12]
2013 Chrystia Freeland Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else Winner [13][14]
Anne Applebaum Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 Shortlist [15]
Paul Bracken The Second Nuclear Age: Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics Shortlist [15]
Kwasi Kwarteng Ghosts of Empire: Britain’s Legacies in the Modern World Shortlist [15]
Pankaj Mishra From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia Shortlist [15]
2014 Gary J. Bass The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide Winner [16][17]
Lynne Olson Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939—1941 Shortlist [18]
Eric Schlosser Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety Shortlist [18]
Brendan Simms Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, from 1453 to the Present Shortlist [18]
Benn Steil The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order Shortlist [18]
2015 Serhii Plokhy The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union Winner [19]
2016 Scott Shane Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone Winner [20][21]
Barry Eichengreen Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses – and Misuses – of History Shortlist [22]
Niall Ferguson Kissinger 1923–1968: The Idealist Shortlist [22]
Dominic Lieven The End of Tsarist Russia: The March to World War 1 & Revolution Shortlist [22]
Susan Pedersen The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire Shortlist [22]
2017 Robert F. Worth A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS Winner [23][24]
Rosa Brooks How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon Shortlist [25][26]
Shadi Hamid Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World Shortlist [25][26]
Arkady Ostrovsky The Invention of Russia: From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War Shortlist [25][26]
Laura Secor Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran Shortlist [25][26]
2018 Anne Applebaum Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine Winner [27]
Graham Allison Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? Shortlist [28]
Lawrence Freedman The Future of War: A History Shortlist [28]
Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World Shortlist [28]
Richard McGregor Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century Shortlist [28]
2019 Adam Tooze Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World Winner [29]
Rania Abouzeid No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria Shortlist [30]
Elizabeth C. Economy The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State Shortlist [30]
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt How Democracies Die Shortlist [30]
Timothy Snyder The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America Shortlist [30]
2020 Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes The Light that Failed: A Reckoning Winner [31][32]
2021 Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace Winner [33]
2022 Carter Malkasian The American War in Afghanistan: A History Winner [34]
Emily Bass To End a Plague: America's Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa Shortlist [35][36]
Rush Doshi The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order Shortlist [35][36]
Niall Ferguson Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe Shortlist [35][36]
Jeffrey Veidlinger In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918–1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust Shortlist [35][36]
2023 Susan L. Shirk Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise Winner [37][38]
Chris Miller Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology Shortlist [39]
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism Shortlist [39]
J. Bradford DeLong Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century Shortlist [39]
Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century Shortlist [39]
2024 Timothy Garton Ash Homelands: A Personal History of Europe Winner [40]
Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson Power and Progress: Our 1000-year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity Shortlist [41][42]
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy Shortlist [41][42]
Harold James Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises that Shaped Globalization Shortlist [41][42]
Wendy H. Wong We, The Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age Shortlist [41][42]
2025 Mary Bridges Dollars and Dominion: U.S. Bankers and the Making of a Superpower Shortlist [43][44]
Steve Coll The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq Shortlist [43][44]
Tim Cook The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism during the Second World War Shortlist [43][44]
Benjamin Nathans To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement Shortlist [43][44]
Sergey Radchenko To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power Shortlist [43][44]

References

  1. ^ "The Lionel Gelber Prize | The Munk School". University of Toronto. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "About the Prize". The Lionel Gelber Prize - The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  3. ^ "The devil inside". The Economist. September 9, 1999. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bibliography". The Lionel Gelber Prize - The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  5. ^ "HONORS". The Washington Post. March 3, 2005. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  6. ^ "Recent Books". Vanderbilt University. August 22, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  7. ^ "Awards: Lionel Gelber Prize". Shelf Awareness . March 2, 2011. Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "Awards: Best Translated Books Longlist; Lionel Gelber Shortlist". Shelf Awareness . January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  9. ^ "Vogel wins Gelber Prize for book". The Harvard Gazette. February 27, 2012. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  10. ^ "Awards: Lionel Gelber Prize". Shelf Awareness . February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d "Awards: Lionel Gelber Prize Shortlist". Shelf Awareness . February 15, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d Webb-Campbell, Shannon (February 13, 2012). "Lionel Gelber Prize shortlist announced". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  13. ^ Stuster, J. Dana (March 25, 2013). "The 2013 Gelber Prize winner: Chrystia Freeland's 'Plutocrats'". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  14. ^ "Awards: Lionel Gelber". Shelf Awareness . March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d Carter, Sue (February 19, 2013). "Chrystia Freeland makes Lionel Gelber Prize shortlist". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  16. ^ "'The Blood Telegram' wins the 2014 Lionel Gelber Prize". CTV News. The Canadian Press. March 31, 2014. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  17. ^ "Awards: Lionel Gelber Winner; Reading the West Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. April 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  18. ^ a b c d "Gelber Prize shortlists five foreign affairs books". Toronto Star. February 10, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  19. ^ "The 2015 Gelber Prize - Serhii Plokhy". CBC News. April 30, 2015. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  20. ^ Robertson, Becky (March 1, 2016). "Scott Shane wins Munk School's Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on October 10, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  21. ^ "Drone Warfare: Is Killing Terrorists Legal?". CBC News. May 11, 2016. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  22. ^ a b c d Robertson, Becky (February 8, 2016). "Guardians author Susan Pedersen among finalists for Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  23. ^ "Awards: B&N Discover, Lionel Gelber". Shelf Awareness . March 2, 2017. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  24. ^ Carter, Sue (February 28, 2017). "Robert F. Worth wins Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  25. ^ a b c d "Awards: Lionel Gelber Shortlist". Shelf Awareness . February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on October 16, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  26. ^ a b c d Robertson, Becky (February 1, 2017). "Munk School of Global Affairs announces 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize shortlist". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  27. ^ "Starving out resistance: Anne Applebaum on Stalin's deliberate famine in Ukraine". CBC Radio. September 14, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  28. ^ a b c d Cerny, Dory (February 14, 2018). "Lionel Gelber Prize shortlist announced". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  29. ^ Ryan, Porter (February 28, 2019). "Adam Tooze wins Lionel Gelber Prize for book on financial crash". Quill and Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  30. ^ a b c d Carter, Sue (January 29, 2019). "Lionel Gelber Prize reveals five-title shortlist". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  31. ^ Ryan, Porter (March 12, 2020). "American "political psychology" book The Light That Failed wins $15,000 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill and Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  32. ^ "Gelber Prize winners blame 'politics of imitation' for extremism in Central Europe". CBC Radio. April 21, 2020. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  33. ^ Ryan, Porter (April 20, 2021). "Book on the human cost of global economics wins $15,000 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  34. ^ Berki, Attila (April 12, 2022). "Winner of the 2022 Lionel Gelber Prize announced". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on April 20, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  35. ^ a b c d "Awards: Lionel Gelber, Lukas Shortlists". Shelf Awareness . February 24, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  36. ^ a b c d Drudi, Cassandra (February 10, 2022). "2022 Lionel Gelber Prize shortlist announced". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  37. ^ Drudi, Cassandra (April 10, 2023). "Susan L. Shirk wins 2023 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  38. ^ "Awards: Lionel Gelber Winner; Ben Franklin Finalists". Shelf Awareness . April 11, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  39. ^ a b c d Drudi, Cassandra (February 28, 2023). "Shortlist announced for 2023 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  40. ^ Drudi, Cassandra (March 6, 2024). "Timothy Garton Ash wins 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  41. ^ a b c d "Awards: Lionel Gelber Nonfiction Shortlist". Shelf Awareness . February 12, 2024. Archived from the original on October 15, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  42. ^ a b c d Drudi, Cassandra (February 13, 2024). "Shortlist announced for 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  43. ^ a b c d e "Awards: Carol Shields Fiction Longlist; Lionel Gelber Nonfiction Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  44. ^ a b c d e Drudi, Cassandra (March 3, 2025). "Tim Cook among authors shortlisted for 2025 Lionel Gelber Prize". Quill & Quire. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
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