George L. Mosse Prize
The American Historical Association awards the George L. Mosse Prize annually for an outstanding major work of extraordinary scholarly distinction, creativity, and originality in the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since 1500. This prize was established with funds donated by former students, colleagues, and friends of Dr. Mosse. The general rules for submission are:
- Only books of a high scholarly distinction should be submitted. Research accuracy, originality, and literary merit are important selection factors.
- Books with a copyright of 2017 are eligible for the 2018 award.
- Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Mosse Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
Please Note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2018, to be eligible for the 2018 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2018 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2019 AHA annual meeting in Chicago.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
The review committee contact information and prize submission form will be posted by March 1 for submissions due May 15.
2016 Mosse Prize
Thomas W. Laqueur, Univ. of California, Berkeley
The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains (Princeton Univ. Press)
Thomas Laqueur’s haunting book brilliantly tackles a fundamental historical question: how humanity relates to the dead. His magisterial account establishes that throughout the premodern and modern periods, the world has never been disenchanted; the dead have always had agency in defining what it means to be human. A modern Charon, Laqueur surveys churchyards, cemeteries, and crematoria, establishing our need to be “eased out of this world and settled safely into the next and into memory.”