Royal Historical Society First Book Prize

The Royal Historical Society awards an annual book prize for first monographs published by early career historians. Submissions are invited from historians who gained their PhD at a UK or Irish university. The 2025 book prize includes several new elements which are set out below:

  • the move to one annual book prize — the Royal Historical Society First Book Prize — which will be awarded to early career authors of two books each year; each winning author will receive £1000;
  • the submission of all monographs, on any subject area or geographical region, to the new format First Book Prize
  • books will be received for judging by self-nomination from the author. This replaces the previous model of recommendations by publishers.

The 2027 Prize Round: call for submissions now open

The call for the submission of self-nominated monographs for the 2027 RHS First Book Prize is now open. Details of eligible books may be submitted via the Society’s applications portal.

The closing date for submissions is 23:59 on Monday 14 14 December 2026.

Shortlists for the 2027 prizes are expected in May 2027 with the final winners made known in July 2027.

Eligibility for the RHS First Book Prize, 2027

To be eligible for consideration for the prize, the book must:

  • 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 2026 (for the 2027 award). Only printed and e-books bearing a 2026 copyright date are eligible for consideration in the current round. Books issued by publishers in the final weeks of 2026, which bear a copyright date of 2027, will be eligible for nomination in the next round of awards in twelve months’ time (i.e. in 2027 for the 2028 prize round).
  • be a publication from a recognised academic or university press, or a publisher of academic monographs in history.

Winners of the RHS First Book Prize in 2026

On 1 July 2026, the Society announced the following two winners of this year’s First Book Prize:

Our congratulations to Kiran and John, and to the six other authors shortlisted in 2026. For more on the winning titles, please see below.

Kiran Mehta for To Detain or To Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750-1840 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025)

Judges’ citation:

Kiran Mehta has identified and addressed a significant gap in the literature of early modern crime and punishment: the role of magistrates. Her book has painstakingly reconstructed the histories of the various types of prisons operating in London in the early modern era. Kiran exposes the difference between their intended uses and the somewhat muddled system which operated in practice. This was also a time when the authorities were attempting to renovate an ageing prison estate.

Magistrates were key players in the running of prisons and in shaping policies around punishment and prison reform. However, they have been somewhat overlooked in the historiography. Kiran Mehta’s excellent book now corrects that oversight.

Dr Helen Paul, chair, RHS First Book panel, 2026

John Latham-Sprinkle for The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240 (Cambridge University Press, 2025)

Judges’ citation:

John Latham-Sprinkle’s masterly study of the Kingdom of Alania showcases how historical analysis can be brought to bear even when source material is largely absent or fragmentary. It is a great rarity for any historian to have the opportunity to name a ruling dynasty, but John has done just that.

Alania is a polity which existed in the North Caucasus between the ninth and the thirteenth century. John Latham-Sprinkle adeptly shows how that state was formed and brings the existing Russian historiography to a wider audience. The author not only tackles a difficult and under-researched topic but also discusses how histories can and should be written.

Dr Helen Paul, chair, RHS First Book panel, 2026

A full listing of winners of the Royal Historical Society’s first book prizes (1977-2026), previously known as the Whitfield and Gladstone prizes, is available here.

General enquiries about Society’s Prizes should be sent to: [email protected].

 

IMAGE: ‘Books and Scholars’ Possessions’, Korean, early C20th, Metropolitan Museum of Art Collections, public domain