Finalist: Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution , by Mary Gabriel (Little, Brown and Company )
An enlightening, richly researched book on the saga of Marx, his family and the ideas and historical events they helped to shape.
Winners
Prize Winner in Biography in 2012:
John Lewis Gaddis
An engaging portrait of a globetrotting diplomat whose complicated life was interwoven with the Cold War and America's emergence as the world's dominant power.
Biography
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Biography in 2012:
the late Manning Marable
An exploration of the legendary life and provocative views of one of the most significant African-Americans in U.S. history, a work that separates fact from fiction and blends the heroic and tragic. (Moved by the Board to the History category.)
The Jury
The Jury
H.W. Brands(Chair )
Dickson Allen Anderson Centennial Professor of History and Government
John Milton Cooper Jr.
professor of history, emeritus
Kenneth R. Manning
Thomas Meloy Professor of Rhetoric and the History of Science
Winners in Biography
Ron Chernow
A sweeping, authoritative portrait of an iconic leader learning to master his private feelings in order to fulfill his public duties.
T.J. Stiles
A penetrating portrait of a complex, self-made titan who revolutionized transportation, amassed vast wealth and shaped the economic world in ways still felt today.
Jon Meacham
An unflinching portrait of a not always admirable democrat but a pivotal president, written with an agile prose that brings the Jackson saga to life.
2012 Prize Winners
No award
No award
Manning Marable
An exploration of the legendary life and provocative views of one of the most significant African-Americans in U.S. history, a work that separates fact from fiction and blends the heroic and tragic.
John Lewis Gaddis
An engaging portrait of a globetrotting diplomat whose complicated life was interwoven with the Cold War and America's emergence as the world's dominant power.
Tracy K. Smith
A collection of bold, skillful poems, taking readers into the universe and moving them to an authentic mix of joy and pain.