The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize 2026 recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of history monographs published in 2025.
This year’s shortlist of eight titles is now available and follows an open call for early career historians to submit a first sole-authored monograph, published last year, for consideration.
Two final winners of the 2026 prize will be announced in July. Also now available is the Shortlist for the Society’s 2026 Early Career Article prize, with the winners also to be announced in July.
The 2026 shortlist recognises the scholarly contribution of eight history monographs published in 2025.
Global Decolonisation and Non-Sovereignty: Small Island States in the Caribbean, by Grace Carrington (Cambridge University Press)
Slave Trading in the Early Middle Ages: Long-distance Connections in Northern and East Central Europe, by Janel Fontaine (Manchester University Press)
The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240, by John Latham-Sprinkle (Cambridge University Press)
To Detain or To Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750-1840, by Kitan Mehta (McGill-Queen’s University Press)
Between Feast and Famine: Food, Health, and the History of Ghana’s Long Twentieth Century, by Jon Nott (UCL Press)
The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade, by Jake Subryan Richards (Yale University Press)
Beauty and the Gods: A History from Homer to Plato, by Hugo Shakeshaft (Princeton University Press)
Birth, Death, and Domestic Religion in Early Modern London, by Emily Vine (Cambridge University Press)
Two prizes, each of £1000, will be awarded to two authors of a first, single-authored monograph.
THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR’S RHS FIRST BOOK PRIZE WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN JULY, ALONG WITH RECIPIENTS OF THE SOCIETY’S 2026 EARLY CAREER ARTICLE PRIZE.
About the Prize
The Royal Historical Society’s First Book Prize, 2026, recognises first, sole-authored monographs published in 2025. Books for consideration were submitted by authors following an open call.
Eight titles have now been shortlisted with two winners to be announced in July 2026.
Titles eligible for the 2026 Prize will:
- be an early career historian’s first sole-written history book and take the form of a monograph;
- be on any historical subject, covering all topics, chronologies and geographies;
- be an original and scholarly work of historical research by an author who received their doctoral degree from a UK or Irish university;
- have been published in English during the calendar year 2025 (for the 2026 award). Only printed and e-books bearing a 2024 copyright date are eligible for consideration in the current round. Books issued by publishers in the final weeks of 2025, which bear a copyright date of 2026, will be eligible for nomination in the 2026 awards.
- be a publication from a recognised academic or university press, or a publisher of academic monographs in history.
Find out more about the Society’s First Book Prize, and previous winners of RHS book prizes to 2025, on the RHS website.
Also available: Royal Historical Society Early Career Article Prize, 2026
The Society’s Early Career Article Prize is awarded to for a journal article, published in 2025, by an early career historians who is currently studying for a PhD or is within three years of submission of their PhD at university in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
This year’s shortlist of eight articles is also now available, with two winners to be announced in early July.
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