FOR ALL WITH AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORY
OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND THE BRITISH RAJ
BOOK PRIZE WINNERS 2024
Proceeds from lectures fund annual prizes for non-fiction historical writing on British India.
The British in India Book Prize
The British in India Book Prize rewards excellence in writing about the history of the British in South Asia by first- or second-time authors of books published in the preceding year. The winner receives £1000.
The winning entry for The British in India Book Prize 2024 was decided by a panel of three judges. In 2024 the judges were Jad Adams, Roderick Matthews and Rosemary Raza.
Winner
Harrison Akins, Conquering the Maharajahs: India’s Princely States and the End of Empire 1930-50, Manchester University Press.
Runner-up
Alexandra Lindgren-Gibson, Working-Class Raj: Colonialism and the Making of Class in British India, Cambridge University Press.
Judges' report
Jad Adams (chair) said:
We decided unanimously to give first prize to Harrison Akins’ Conquering the Maharajas. This was an absorbing and thorough study of the little-examined subject of what happened to the princely states when India was divided. It is a good political history, with a beginning, middle and end, which could be read for pleasure and instruction by non-specialists. It has structure, purpose and readability and the judges were happy to award it the first prize.
Working-Class Raj was our second choice, giving interesting, fresh research on working-class people under the Raj. It is full of personalities and stories based on original archival sources. It is not too intellectual and is accessible to a general reader.
The British in India Military History Book Prize
The British in India Military History Book Prize rewards excellence in writing about the military history of the British in South Asia up to 1947 by first- or second-time authors of books published in the preceding year. The winner receives £500. The winning entry is decided by a panel of three judges. The British in India Prize for Military History was not awarded in 2024 due to insufficient entries.