Jerry Bentley Prize
In 2014 the American Historical Association established the Jerry Bentley Prize in World History, which honors Jerry Bentley’s tireless efforts to promote the field of world history, and his signal contributions to it. A professor at the University of Hawaii, Bentley was one of the leading figures in the world history movement and the founding editor of the Journal of World History.
The Bentley prize is awarded annually to the best book in each calendar year in the field of world history. The current prize amount is $1,000. See the list of past recipients.
The general rules for submission are:
- Any book published in English dealing with global or world-scale history, with connections or comparisons across continents, in any period will be eligible.
- Books bearing a copyright of 2023 are eligible for the 2024 prize.
- 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 “Bentley 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, 2024, to be eligible for the 2024 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2024 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2025 AHA annual meeting in New York.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
Photo of Jerry Bentley, courtesy of University of Hawai'i history department.
2023 Bentley Prize
James Poskett, University of Warwick
Horizons: A Global History of Science (Viking)
James Poskett’s impressively readable Horizons is an original and capacious corrective to the Eurocentric narrative of the development of science since 1450. Euro-American prejudices, Poskett argues, created a systemic failure to acknowledge and recall non-European scientific contributions with consequences that continue to shape our world. By underlining the work of people in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, Poskett invites further research into the dependence of both science and its history on global exchanges often fraught with physical and epistemic violence.