Book on Losing British Generals Wins American History Prize

The British may have lost the colonies in 1781. But the tale of their defeat has just won a prestigious literary honor, thanks to Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy’s study “The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire,” which has been awarded the New-York Historical Society’s annual American history book prize.

The prize, whose previous winners include Robert Caro, Drew Gilpin Faust and Gordon Wood, comes with a $50,000 cash award and an engraved medal, which will be presented in April at a black-tie gala during the society’s annual Weekend With History event....