Author biographies, book on colonial climate change vie for grand history prize

TORONTO – Two author biographies and a book on climate change in the colonial era have made the final cut for a prestigious history prize run by McGill University.

The three Cundill History Prize finalists, announced Wednesday, will each receive US$10,000 and are now vying for the grand prize, which raises the reward to US$75,000.

Contenders include Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Caroline Fraser for “Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder,” about the life of the “Little House on the Prairie” author.

Harvard historian Maya Jasanoff is also in the running for “The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World,” about the forces that shaped the Polish-British writer of “Heart of Darkness.”

Rounding out the list is Ohio State University professor Sam White with “A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s Encounter with North America,” billed as an interdisplinary examination of the role climate change played in determining the fates of European settlers.

The winner will be revealed at an event in Montreal on Nov. 15.