J. Russell Major Prize
The American Historical Association awards the J. Russell Major Prize annually for the best work in English on any aspect of French history. The prize was established in memory of J. Russell Major, the distinguished scholar of French history who died on December 12, 1998, at the age of 77. Major served on the history faculty at Emory University from 1949 until his retirement in 1990, and wrote 10 books, including Representative Government in Early Modern France and From Renaissance Monarchy to Absolute Monarchy: French Kings, Nobles and Estates.
The current prize amount is $1,000. See the list of past recipients.
The general rules for submission are:
- Books with a copyright of 2022 are eligible for the 2023 award.
- Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.
- 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 “Major 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, 2023, to be eligible for the 2023 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2023 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2024 AHA annual meeting in San Francisco.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2022 Major Prize
Sarah C. Dunstan, University of Glasgow
Race, Rights and Reform: Black Activism in the French Empire and the United States from World War I to the Cold War (Cambridge Univ. Press)
Race, Rights and Reform is a deeply researched transnational intellectual and political history that investigates how Black activists on both sides of the Atlantic advanced antiracism in the mid-20th century. Sarah C. Dunstan’s careful, perceptive investigation analyzes Black philosophers’ and artists’ ideological influences and theoretical contributions in their evolving struggles against colonialism, fascism, the world wars, and systemic inequity in France and the United States. It is relevant, insightful, and compelling.