“I had a brilliant teacher […] and he just made me think that the past was the most wonderful place to inhabit.” A love of history started early for #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges David Cannadine and Helen McCarthy. Find out what, and who, inspired them.

Which historical figure do you think would have been brilliant on social media? #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges Sudhir Hazareesingh and @historianhelen.bsky.social share their ideas. Who would be your nomination?

The Judges' Bookshelf #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges Sudhir Hazareesingh and Diarmaid MacCulloch share their top recommendations and explain why these books deserve a place on your bookshelf. Which title would you pick up first?

Meet the #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges! Curious to know what it's like to be a #WolfsonHistoryPrize judge? Judge and 2021 winner Sudhir Hazareesingh discusses his experience on the panel.

The 1990s gave us some of the most influential works of history writing, culminating in Antony Beevor's remarkable Stalingrad. Take a look at the books that won the #WolfsonHistoryPrize during this seminal decade.📚 Which would you recommend?

Just one month to go before the #WolfsonHistoryPrize 2026 shortlist is announced! Be sure to follow @wolfsonhistory.bsky.social to see the announcement as soon as it's out.

#OTD in 1947, India was partitioned in one of the defining moments of the twentieth century. To understand both the events of 1947 and their lasting impact on South Asia, read ‘Shadows at Noon’ by Joya Chatterji, winner of the 2024 #WolfsonHistoryPrize. bit.ly/4ftR6rH

History helps us to make sense of the world around us, but what makes a great history book a #WolfsonHistoryPrize-winning book? David Cannadine, our Chair of judges, has a few suggestions.

Meet the newest member of the #WolfsonHistoryPrize judging panel! @historianhelen.bsky.social reflects on her first year as a judge and how reading upward of 140 books in fewer than five months reignited her passion for all periods of history. 📖

What's it like to be a #WolfsonHistoryPrize judge? This summer, you'll get to know our judging panel in a series of quick-fire Q&As and discover what made them fall in love with history. What question would you ask the panel?

WIN! This month, we're giving you the chance to win a copy of 'The Gravity of Feathers: Fame, Fortune and the Story of St Kilda' by Andrew Fleming. 📚 Enter via Wolfson History Prize on Instagram. Entries close 12/08/2026 10AM BST. UK Only. bit.ly/4vErZYh

For the past 54 years, the #WolfsonHistoryPrize has paid tribute to the best historical writing produced in the UK. 📚 Today, we look back at the 1980s, when winning books ranged from sweeping studies of empires and global power to social history, biography and medieval Britain.

Explore this week's #WolfsonHistoryPrize reading list on medieval Europe. 📙Living and Dying in England 1100-1540: The Monastic Experience (Barbara Harvey) 📙Going to Church in Medieval England (Nicholas Orme) 📙The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe (James Belich)

Since 1972, the #WolfsonHistoryPrize has paid tribute to the best historical writing being produced in the UK. Join us as we celebrate the winning and shortlisted titles of the 1970s.

Delve into the #WolfsonHistoryPrize reading list on 20th-century Europe. 📙 London in the Twentieth Century: A City and Its People (Jerry White) 📙 The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940 (Julian Jackson) 📙National Service: Conscription in Britain, 1945-1963 (Richard Vinen)

#OTD in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act passed its second reading. Nicholas Radburn’s #WolfsonHistoryPrize 2024 shortlisted book 'Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade' examines Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade. bit.ly/4eahjcO

Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Shortlisted for the 2024 Wolfson History Prize, Nicholas Radburn's book is a sweeping new history that explains how merchants in Britain, Africa and the Americas collectively transformed the transatla...

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This week's #WolfsonHistoryPrize reading list explores the Enlightenment and Revolutions. 📙A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 (Orlando Figes) 📙The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (Frances Yates) 📙Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World (Roy Porter)

We are spotlighting another judge for the 2026 #WolfsonHistoryPrize. Sudhir Hazareesingh joined the judging panel in 2022, having been awarded the Wolfson History Prize the year before for Black Spartacus: The Epic life of Toussaint Louverture.

The Norwich History Festival is back from 14 - 24 July! The 2024 #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlisted author Nandini Das and the 1999 winner Antony Beevor will be speaking at the event. For more information and tickets, see here. norwichhistoryfestival.co.uk

This week's #WolfsonHistoryPrize reading list explores the Reformation and the Renaissance. 📙Black Tudors: The Untold Story (Miranda Kaufmann) 📙Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Lyndal Roper) 📙Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490-1700 (Diarmaid MacCulloch)

Introducing our Chair of Judges for the 2026 #WolfsonHistoryPrize. David Cannadine is widely regarded as one of the most influential British historians of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

We are pleased to introduce the #WolfsonHistoryPrize judging panel for 2026: David Cannadine (Chair), Helen King, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Helen McCarthy and Diarmaid MacCulloch. For detailed biographies of the five judges, please see here: bit.ly/4arUNv1

Judges of The Wolfson History Prize

Find out more about the judges of the Wolfson History Prize, the UK's most prestigious history-writing prize.

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#OTD in 1535, Sir Thomas More was executed after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. In the 2018 #WolfsonHistoryPrize winning 'Heretics and Believers', author Peter Marshall reframes the overthrow of Catholic culture and the reshaping of the English Church. bit.ly/4fbzjVQ

Heretics and Believers - The 2018 Wolfson History Prize Winner

Peter Marshall’s sweeping new history—the first major overview for general readers in a generation—argues that sixteenth-century England was a society neither desperate for nor allergic to change, but...

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WIN! This month we're giving you the chance to win a copy of 'Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade' by Hannah Durkin. 📚 To enter: head to this post on our Instagram page! Entries close 10/07/2026 10AM GMT. UK Only. bit.ly/4vErZYh

We are delighted to announce celebrated author and historian Helen McCarthy as one of the judges for the 2026 #WolfsonHistoryPrize. Helen McCarthy is an historian of everyday worlds of work, family and politics in modern Britain from the late nineteenth century to the present.

#OTD in 1916, the Battle of the Somme began, one of history’s deadliest battles. The 1985 #WolfsonHistoryPrize winner 'Lloyd George: From Peace to War, 1912-1916' by John Grigg explores Lloyd George's time as a dynamic war minister during the years of the First World War. bit.ly/42yMQ2Q

The 1985 Wolfson History Prize Winners

1985 Winners - Lloyd George: From Peace to War, 1912-1916, John Grigg

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We are now on Instagram! Follow our account for history insights, reading recommendations, and highlights from past winners, as we look ahead to the 2026 shortlist announcement on 17 September. www.instagram.com/wolfsonhisto...

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Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

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#OTD in 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union during World War II. The #WolfsonHistoryPrize–winning book 'The Wages of Destruction' by Adam Tooze examines the economic and strategic pressures within the Nazi war economy. bit.ly/4nxVAQa

The Wages of Destruction - The 2007 Wolfson History Prize Winner

The Wages of Destruction provides a groundbreaking new account of how Hitler established himself in power, mobilized for war - and led his country to annihilation.

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#DidYouKnow that although Queen Victoria was named Empress of India, she never travelled there? The 2019 #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlist book 'Empress: Queen Victoria and India' by Miles Taylor examines Queen Victoria's relationship with India and the years of her rule. bit.ly/4eLU8rc

Empress - The 2019 Wolfson History Prize Shortlist

In this engaging and controversial book, Miles Taylor shows how both Victoria and Albert were spellbound by India, and argues that the Queen was humanely, intelligently, and passionately involved with...

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#OTD in 1520, Pope Leo X threatened Martin Luther with excommunication in 'Exsurge Domine'. The 2017 Wolfson shortlist book 'Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet' by Lyndal Roper examines the life and legacy of the founding father of the Protestant Reformation. bit.ly/4eG6scx

Martin Luther - The 2017 Wolfson History Prize Shortlist

When Martin Luther nailed a sheet of paper to the church door of a small university town on 31 October 1517, he set off a process that changed the Western world for ever.

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