Historian Hannah Durkin’s Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade (William Collins) has been named the winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2025, the UK’s most prestigious history writing prize.
Survivors is an immersive and revelatory history of the survivors of the Clotilda, the last ship of the Atlantic slave trade, whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways. Combining history, biography and social commentary, and drawing on Durkin’s intensive research, Survivors is an epic work that tells the stories of the Clotilda’s 110 captives. Some of the survivors lived well into the twentieth century, making them the last witnesses to the final act of a terrible and significant period in world history.
A tour de force that deepens knowledge and understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and its far-reaching influence on life today, Survivors has been described by The Times’ Pratinav Anil as “Gripping … a remarkably wide-ranging book taking in everything from science to soft drinks to show how slavery’s insidious hand wormed its way into the very fabric of American life”, while The Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Helferich noted that “Hannah Durkin lets the enslaved speak for themselves, and they tell a story not only of unimaginable suffering but also of courage and survival.”
L: ‘Survivors’ book cover; R: portrait of Hannah Durkin (c) Matt Jamie
Recognising the best history writing of the previous year that combines the highest quality of research with readability for a general audience, the judges of the Wolfson History Prize 2025 were Mary Beard, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Helen King and Diarmaid MacCulloch, with the panel chaired by David Cannadine.
The Wolfson History Prize judges said:
“A superb reconstruction of the lives of the survivors of the slave ship, Clotilda. This searing book conveys the survivors’ sufferings and remarkable resilience, bringing to life their personal stories in a compelling way.”
David Cannadine, chair of the Wolfson History Prize judges said: “Survivors is a powerful, moving and revelatory account of the African captives taken aboard the Clotilda, the last ship of the Atlantic slave trade. Durkin draws on meticulous research to shed light on the survivors’ personal stories, demonstrating how they faced loss and adversity with strength and resilience, and calling our attention to their legacy. We wish to express our warmest congratulations to Hannah Durkin on winning this year’s Wolfson History Prize.”
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation said: “The Wolfson History Prize seeks to celebrate exceptionally researched, highly readable history writing. Hannah Durkin’s Survivors achieves precisely that. Congratulations to Hannah Durkin, and to all of the authors shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2025.”
Hannah Durkin was awarded £50,000, while the five shortlisted authors each took home £5,000. The other books shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2025 were:
- Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough (Profile Books)
- The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor (Allen Lane)
- Multicultural Britain: A People’s History by Kieran Connell (Hurst Publishing)
- The Gravity of Feathers: Fame, Fortune and the Story of St Kilda by Andrew Fleming (Birlinn)
- The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective by Sara Lodge (Yale University Press)
Over the past 53 years, the Wolfson History Prize has celebrated the best historical writing being produced in the UK, reflecting both readability for a general audience and the highest quality writing and research.
Previous winners of the Wolfson History Prize include the eminent historians Antonia Fraser, Eric Hobsbawm, Halik Kochanski, Simon Schama, Amanda Vickery, Antony Beevor, Joanna Bourke, Christopher Bayly and Clare Jackson. The 2024 prize was won by Joya Chatterji for her genre-defying history of South Asia, Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century.
The Wolfson History Prize is run and awarded by the Wolfson Foundation, an independent grant-making charity with a focus on research and education.
For more information on the Wolfson History Prize, please contact: Edwina Boyd-Gibbins or Jane Lau at Midas on edwina.boyd-gibbins@midas-group.com / jane.lau@midas-group.com or 020 7361 7860.
