The Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize is a $50,000 prize sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The award recognizes the best book on American military history in English distinguished by its scholarship, its contribution to the literature, and its appeal to the broadest possible general reading public. Books that touch upon historic military events of other countries may be considered as long as their primary focus is on American military history.
The 2023 prizewinner is Craig L. Symonds for Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay (Oxford University Press).
An award ceremony featuring a conversation between Lorien Foote, chair of the 2023 prize committee, and Craig L. Symonds took place on December 4, 2024, hosted by the New York Historical.
Submissions
Publishers, critics, and authors may submit or nominate books published in the current year. Please note that as of 2022, only books with a primary focus of American military history can be considered.
Nominations are no longer being accepted for books published in 2024. Results of the adjudication process will be announced in October. To nominate books copyrighted in 2025, please send five copies to the address below before the submission deadline of December 31, 2025.
Daniela Muhling
Book Prize Manager
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
49 West 45th Street, 2nd Floor
New York NY 10036
For more information, please call 646-366-9666 ext.144 or send an email to bookprizes@gilderlehrman.org.
Winners
2023
Craig L. Symonds, Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay (Oxford University Press)
2022
Bruce Henderson, Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II (Knopf)
2021
Kevin J. Weddle, The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution (Oxford University Press)
2020
Alexander Mikaberidze, The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History (Oxford University Press)
2019
John C. McManus, Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941–1943 (Dutton-Penguin)
2018
Andrew Lambert, Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires and the Conflict That Made the Modern World (Yale University Press)
2017
Cathal Nolan, The Allure of Battle: A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost (Oxford University Press)
2016
Peter Cozzens, The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West (Knopf)
Prior to 2016, the prize was known as the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize for Military History, and was awarded to the following:
2015
David L. Preston, Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution (Oxford)
2014
Alexander Watson, Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914–1918 (Basic)
2013
Allen C. Guelzo, Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (Knopf)
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