We’re delighted to announce the HWA Crown Awards shortlists for 2024, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction.
There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown.
Six books are chosen in each category. Here they are, with what our judges say about them:
The books shortlisted for the HWA Crown Awards for 2024 are:
Gold Crown Award 2024 shortlist
The Glutton by AK Blakemore (Granta)
A Rabelaisian allegory of personal and political distemper in 1790s France. Richly and deliciously written.
Clear by Carys Davies (Granta)
Simple, yet poetic, writing brings this tale of 19th-century Scotland to life. The vivid setting of a remote island as the characters learn to communicate with one another.
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer (Harvill Secker)
The year is 1519, and conquistador Hernán Cortés seeks an audience with the Aztec emperor Moctezuma. Vibrant and hallucinogenic, this is a truly original take on a piece of colonial history.
Disobedient by Elizabeth Fremantle (Penguin)
The masterful telling of a formative period in the life of artist Artemisia Gentileschi. Vivid in detail, this is a brilliant example of the power of historical fiction.
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (Footnote Press)
An authentic, at times brutal, portrayal of life for a young girl in one of Japan’s pleasure quarters at the turn of the 20th century. Fully focused on the female perspective of a profession that has often been seen through the male gaze.
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford (Faber and Faber)
A fictional city in an alternative version of 1920s America. Dark, gritty storytelling that conjures time and place so well that you can hardly believe it never existed.
The HWA Gold Crown Award judges are: Louise Hare (chair), Amy McElroy, Clare McHugh, Matthew Plampin, Alison Joseph, Tom Mogford, Emma Corfield Walters and Liz Vater.
Louise Hare says: “It’s been a real honour to serve as chair of such an esteemed and excellent panel of judges this year. We were sent a collection of brilliant and varied books, and it was a wrench to have to choose between them, losing beloved books at each stage. I hope readers enjoy our shortlist as much as we do.”
Non-fiction Crown Award 2024 shortlist
Final Verdict: A Holocaust Trial in the Twenty-first Century by Tobias Buck (W&N)
Giving details not only of the trial but the wartime experiences of those involved, this harrowing account raises many moral questions and stimulates debate on a wider scale. Very affecting.
The Shoulders We Stand On: How Black and Brown People Fought for Change in the United Kingdom by Preeti Dhillon (Dialogue Books)
History is always selective in its telling. The fact that these stories are new to so many of us is as significant as the events they describe. Here are 10 narratives of how Black and brown people, between the 1960s and 1980s, fought for their rights, and in doing so, changed things for all British people. An essential book for our understanding of race in Britain and its place within our broader history.
Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Hannah Durbin (William Collins)
Impeccably researched, this book allows readers to hear the voices of the survivors of the slave ship, reminding all how recently this abhorrent trade was still operating. Deeply moving.
Four Shots In the Night: A True Story of Stakeknife, Murder and Justice in Northern Ireland by Henry Hemming (Quercus)
An even-handed and scrupulous uncovering of the true scale of British intelligence operations in Northern Ireland from the start of the Troubles to the Good Friday Agreement. The all-too human stories — on both sides — highlight the moral dilemmas inherent in the search for peace. Reads like a thriller!
Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King by Michael Livingston (Osprey)
Few books redefine the way we consider how events unfolded on a particular day 600 years ago, but in this compelling and at times provocative study, Michael Livingston has redrawn the map concerning medieval England’s greatest triumph. Complex history effortlessly conveyed to the reader in a conversational yet authoritative manner. A masterful work that thrills throughout.
The Picnic: An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain by Matthew Longo (Bodley Head)
An evocative oral history that reads like a fast-paced political thriller. At a heightened time of ideological tension in Europe, a penetrating and timely reminder that brave acts of unity can bring the walls of division tumbling down. Necessary reading.
The HWA Non-fiction Crown Award judges are: Isabelle Grey (chair), Nathen Amin, Pete Brown, Jacqueline Riding and Annie Whitehead.
Isabelle comments: “It was hard enough choosing a longlist from the many fascinating books submitted to the Historical Non-fiction HWA Crown awards; deciding the shortlist was even more difficult, but my dedicated and brilliant fellow judges and I feel that our selection reflects a rich range of subjects, countries, eras, and vivid ways of conveying the importance and humanity of historical research. Congratulations to our final six authors!”
Debut Crown Award 2023 shortlist
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Corvus)
The reader is instantly pulled into a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war. Powerful, masterful writing.
The Maiden by Kate Foster (Pan)
An enthralling true life tale taken from history and woven with Kate Foster’s immersive prose to create something of wonder.
The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes (Phoenix)
A real-life painting, a story reimagined. The writing is as artistic as the image, the colours and texture of the literary tapestry rich and masterful.
The Revels by Stacey Thomas (HQ)
Electric prose brings this tale of a witch hunt from the bowels of history and displays it in gory, yet glorious detail.
The Beholders by Hester Musson (Fourth Estate)
A curious, mysterious read filled with secrets. Expert scene setting and prose that keeps you trapped inside that old house with intriguing characters.
The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh (Gallic)
Recreates all the atmosphere of a Victorian music hall. Gripping plot and a clever insight into the world of the dark theatrical underworld.
The HWA Debut Crown Award judges are: Ayo Onatade (chair), Dan Bassett and Susan Heads.
Ayo says: “Once again, we have immersed ourselves in a wide variety of historical novels and the shortlist has taken us around the world and has also allowed us to read about a Scottish murder based on a true crime, a playwright who becomes involved with an infamous former witch-hunter, a gothic thriller about power and complicity, a noir-tinged assassination of a presidential candidate, the life of the daughters of a famous painter, and a Victorian murder set in a Variety Palace Music Hall.
“Debut authors continue to show that historical fiction is alive and kicking and that it is always a delight to become engrossed in such wonderful stories. All the judges have thoroughly enjoyed themselves reading the nominations, which get better and better each year. My thanks go to my fellow judges for their constant enthusiasm and hard work. It is not an easy task.”
Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors!
And thank you to our hard-working judges.
The winners of the HWA Gold, Non-fiction and Debut Crown Awards are announced at the HWA’s awards ceremony on 20 November, 2024.
See the 36 books longlisted for the awards this year.
Follow #HWACrowns24 on Twitter/X
