David Abulafia’s ‘The Boundless Sea’ wins Wolfson History Prize 2020

A global history of humankind told through our relationship with the world’s oceans has tonight been announced as the winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2020, the most prestigious history prize in the UK, with David Abulafia taking home the £40,000 top award for his book The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans.

The winner was announced in a virtual ceremony featuring guest appearances from previous Wolfson History Prize winners including Mary Beard (2009), Peter Marshall (2018), and Mary Fulbrook (2019). The ceremony can be viewed here. The Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually to a work of historical non-fiction which combines excellence in research and writing, with readability for a general audience. It is the most valuable non-fiction prize in the UK.

Abulafia beat five other shortlisted authors to take home the coveted Prize: John Barton (A History of the Bible: The Book and its Faiths), Toby Green (A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution), Prashant Kidambi (Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire), Hallie Rubenhold (The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper), and Marion Turner (Chaucer: A European Life).

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David Abulafia said, “Winning the Wolfson History Prize I see as a tribute to all of us who have been trying to communicate history to the public, writing in an accessible way without jargon, and making sure that people see the past as an essential part of our human experience.”