Announcing the 2026 shortlist:
six great histories, brilliantly told.
We are delighted to present the Wolfson History Prize 2026 shortlist. Spanning nearly 3,000 years of human history, each of these six exceptional books sheds light on how societies are brought together – or driven apart – in the wake of profound change.
- In turbulent times – when the past itself is often bitterly contested – careful, thoughtful history is ever more important.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive, Wolfson Foundation
Meet the judges
- These remarkable six books remind us of the power of history writing, not just to uncover the past but to bring new perspectives and nuance to our understanding of the present.
David Cannadine, Chair of judges
Keep up to date with the prize
Next in the #ShortlistSpotlight leading up to the #WolfsonHistoryPrize is `Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction` by Sadiah Qureshi.
Vanished is a love letter to the astonishing ways of life that have survived past extinctions. This original and compelling history of the entangled pasts of extinction and empire suggests ways to build worthwhile futures by recognising that extinction is both a natural process and a political choice.
Congratulations to Sadiah Qureshi and @allenlanepr 🎊
Discover Richard Holmes` favourite works of historical non-fiction, spanning pioneering biography and inspiring stories of volunteer lifeboat stations.
📕 `The Life of Charlotte Bronte` by Elizabeth Gaskell
📕`Lytton Strachey: The New Biography` by Michael Holroyd
📕`The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens` by Claire Tomalin
📕`Flaubert`s Parrot` by @julianbarnes.author
📕`Stuart: A Life Backwards` by Alexander Masters
📕`Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne` by @katherine.rundell
📕`Lifeboat at the End of the World: A Volunteer`s Story` by Dominic Gregory
Browse his selection on our @bookshop_org_uk page (linked in bio) 📚
Richard Holmes reflects on what it means to be shortlisted for the #WolfsonHistoryPrize.
Read more about Richard and his shortlisted book, `The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief`, in our interview (linked in bio). @wmcollinsbooks
Step inside `The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief` (@wmcollinsbooks) as Richard Holmes shares an exclusive extract reading with us 🎧
You can read more on our website (link in bio). 🔗
“Meticulously researched and exquisitely written"
The #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges on what makes `The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief` stand out. @wmcollinsbooks
Introducing #ShortlistSpotlight.
Over the coming weeks, we`ll be taking a closer look at the six books shortlisted for the 2026 #WolfsonHistoryPrize. First up: `The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief` by Richard Holmes.
Congratulations to Richard Holmes who wrote this book in his Norfolk garden during Covid, in a state of "total imaginative immersion in Tennyson`s poetry and letters"🎉@wmcollinsbooks
Spanning nearly three thousand years of human history, from humanity`s first civilisation to Liverpool`s post-industrial decline, it might seem impossible to find a common thread in this year`s #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlist. Not so, according to judges Helen McCarthy and Helen King. 📖
The judges are delighted to announce the 2026 #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlist, recognising six exceptional books that explore how societies navigate periods of seismic change.
Which title are you most looking forward to reading? 📚
