'The Slave Ship' Author Wins $50,000 GW Book Prize
University of Pittsburgh history professor Marcus Rediker won the prize for his book on the estimated 12.4 million African slaves' journey to America.
(By Keith Srakocic -- Associated Press)
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Friday, May 30, 2008
University of Pittsburgh history professor Marcus Rediker last night was awarded the $50,000 George Washington Book Prize for his look at the slave trade in "The Slave Ship: A Human History."
The prize, given annually for the best book written about the era of the Founding Fathers, is one of the largest book awards in the country. Presented at Mount Vernon, it is sponsored by Washington College in Chestertown, Md., the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.
The three-member jury said Rediker's book provides a compelling portrait of the ships that carried an estimated 12.4 million Africans across the Atlantic to help build the new America. The book focuses on the stories of the Africans imprisoned on the ships and the sailors who guarded and transported them.
Woody Holton's "Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution" and Jon Latimer's "1812: War With America" were the other finalists for this year's fourth annual prize.
