The HWA is delighted to announce the Crown Awards longlists for 2025, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published during 2024–2025.
There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown, and 12 books in each category.
The books longlisted for the HWA Crown Awards for 2025 are:
Gold Crown Award
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (Canongate Books)
Our judges said: In 1890s Montana, a mail-order bride falls for a messed-up Irishman and together they flee into a frozen wilderness pursued by crazed bounty-hunters. Funny, gripping and stylistically brilliant, this is a poetic love story as well as a classic Western adventure.
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
A tender and life-affirming novel, inspired by a true story, set in the art department of a 1960s psychiatric hospital. Mysteries unfold with insight and humour in this quiet and memorable celebration of kindness and the human spirit.
The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley (Allison & Busby)
A dark Victorian tale of gaslighting, exploitation and wrongful arrest, all in the name of science. This macabre, gothic nightmare twists up the horrors to the outcome of a spine-chilling court case.
Man of Bones by Ben Creed (Mountain Leopard Press)
A Russian mystery thriller set in the dying days of Stalin’s rule. Detective Revol Rossel’s hunt for a murderer leads him back in history towards some uncomfortable and deadly truths. Atmospheric and compelling.
Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans (Doubleday)
It’s 1945 and the aristocratic Vere-Thissett family grapples with a stately home that’s falling down, and a world that’s left them behind. Superb characterisation and beautifully understated humour, threaded through with a poignant love story.
Arthur by Giles Kristian (Bantam)
The Arthurian legend revisited in a highly original way. A bloodthirsty tale of valiant native Britons battling the rampaging Saxon invaders. Beautifully written, gripping and moving.
The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa (Fairlight Books)
Based on true events, The Maiden of Florence is a beautiful, yet harrowing portrayal of how a young orphan girl is selected as the sacrificial lamb for the de’ Medici family. At the height of their power they exert dominance and control across Florence, and this is the story of just one girl, a girl who clings to a thread of hope while navigating her way through life in the patriarchal society of Renaissance Italy.
Hold Back the Night by Jessica Moor (Manilla Press)
The story of one woman’s life as a nurse conflicted by the devastating consequences of conversion therapy in the 1950s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Heart-breaking yet full of hope and brilliantly written.
The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse (Mantle)
This captivating and heartbreaking historical tale, split across 200 years, showcases the determination of women. The women of the Joubert family overcome obstacles and fear to become a shining light of female strength. Beautifully written, this epic story of memorable women who escape religious persecution, seek out family history, and face momentous decisions, will stay with us for a long time.
The Stolen Daughter by Florence Olájídé (Bookouture)
The story of a young woman whose life is ripped apart when her West African village is raided and she is taken as a slave. A page-turner that doesn’t shy away from the difficult issues of the day and shows what life was like for women at that time in what is now Nigeria.
The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin (Dialogue Books)
As the American Civil War looms, a young, enslaved woman in New Orleans navigates the horrors of her situation to find powerful and surprising methods of resistance. An original and vividly crafted story of bravery, love and hope in the face of oppression.
Time of the Child by Niall Williams (Bloomsbury)
When a newborn baby is found outside a church at Christmas 1962, many lives in a rural Irish town suddenly change course. Infused with emotion, wisdom and wit, this mesmerising portrait of a place and time is so intimate you almost feel you’re there.
The HWA Gold Crown Award judges are: Louise Hare (chair), Ellen Alpsten, Maggie Brookes, Mark Ellis, Louise Fein, Alison Joseph, Amy McElroy, Frances Quinn, Carolyn Kirby and Linda Porter.
Non-fiction Crown Award
Lionessheart by Catherine Hanley (The History Press)
Lionessheart is a biography of a great Plantagenet woman, the overlooked sister of Richard the Lionheart. The judges were particularly impressed by Catherine Hanley’s ability to bring Joanna Plantagenet alive through meticulous research and excellent storytelling.
The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (Fourth Estate)
The excitement and danger of James I’s court comes alive in Lucy Hughes-Hallett’s biography of the Duke of Buckingham. A profound insight into the terrifying world of the Jacobean aristocracy and a complex king.
The Endless Country by Sami Kent (Picador)
This history of the first hundred years of the Republic of Turkey is told from the perspective of the author’s family. A vivid, colourful and often moving account of a tumultuous period in Turkey’s history.
Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (William Collins)
Using first-hand testimony, including the diary entries of leading society figures, this book reveals the complex and myriad circumstances which led to the American Civil War, and offers a new perspective on those turbulent events in an accessible and enlightening read.
Naples 1944 by Keith Lowe (William Collins)
What really happened in Naples in 1944? Few English-language historians have tackled the messy horror of the end of the war in Italy. Keith Lowe uncovers the truth in an fascinating and unflinching survey of a brutalised city.
Storm’s Edge by Peter Marshall (William Collins)
Storm’s Edge is an eye-opening history of Orkney, challenging the notion that these islands are peripheral and revealing both their seen and unseen history. The judges were impressed by Peter Marshall’s ability to combine scholarship with an intense meditation on place and belief.
Agent Zo by Clare Mulley (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Impeccably researched, this immersive and moving book highlights the extraordinary life and wartime experiences of Elżbieta Zawacka, while also revealing the plight and bravery of the women of Poland’s resistance movement.
Moederland by Cato Pedder (John Murray)
An innovative approach allows the reader to learn a great deal about the troubled history of South Africa, in a story of nine related women. From slaves to Boers to politicians, conquest and rebellion, the country’s rich history is brought to life with elegant prose and thoughtful analysis.
Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts (riverrun)
Every Living Thing tells the story of the birth of modern biology through a biographical study of the rivalry between Carl Linnaeus and the Comte de Buffon. The judges were impressed by how Jason Roberts brings the history of science alive through a human story and immerses the reader in the worldview of the time.
The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz: A Story of Survival by Anne Sebba (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
In 1943, German SS officers in charge of the concentration camp at Auschwitz ordered the formation of an all-female orchestra of inmates to give weekly concerts to high-ranking Nazis; they were also to play marching music to accompany the grinding daily labour of fellow inmates. Anne Sebba looks at how the orchestra saved the lives of almost all those played in it but left them with complex moral questions about the means of their survival and how beauty had been used to give solace to evil.
The Many lives of James Lovelock by Jonathan Watts (Canongate)
A biography of the ground-breaking scientist James Lovelock, famous for the development of the Gaia hypothesis. Based on hours of interviews and unprecedented access to Lovelock’s scientific and private papers, this vital and timely work creates a multidimensional portrait of a complex man.
The Grammar of Angels by Edward Wilson-Lee (William Collins)
Music and words intoxicate us, but we struggle to understand how. In this sparkling and original book, Edward Wilson-Lee explains how one Italian man tried to set out a philosophy of the Renaissance and appalled the Catholic church.
The HWA Non-fiction Crown Award judges are: Annie Whitehead (chair), Lucy Lethbridge, Ned Palmer, Ros Taylor and Francis Young.
Debut Crown Award
The Wicked of the Earth by AD Bergin (Northodox Press)
Truly powerful in its delivery, highlighting the constant pressure and prejudice women faced, always silenced by those who thought they knew better. Clever, tense and atmospheric book which takes the reader along the streets of Newcastle shortly after the end of the Civil Wars.
Costanza by Rachel Blackmore (Renegade Books)
Hypnotic, sensual, heartbreaking, and shocking, Costanza is flawless in execution and is set to be a classic for years to come. A rich and compelling evocation of art and obsession in 17th-century Rome.
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable (Bloomsbury)
Full of passion, made all the more poignant being based on true events. A masterful evocation of music, musicians and ambition in 18th-century Venice.
Nephthys by Rachel Louise Driscoll (Harvill Secker)
A truly spellbinding debut that glitters and shimmers with a riveting plot and a story that will have you glued to the pages until you uncover what secrets lie deep within. A Victorian adventure that is compulsive and satisfying.
Murder in Constantinople by AE Goldin (Pushkin Press0
A page-turning adventure in which a boy from London’s East End is sucked into a deadly adventure on the eve of the Crimean War. Rich, evocative and full of wit and colour.
Winter of Shadows by Clare Grant (Black Spring Crime)
A gripping murder mystery that not only has a twisting plot but a rich evocative historical background set in 1862 Yorkshire, which introduces readers to a fascinating and brilliant crime scene photographer.
A Poisoner’s Tale by Cathryn Kemp (Bantam)
A complex and powerful novel, both devastating and enlightening. Storytelling at its most powerful and important, and a journey into early modern Rome which thrills and compels.
Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis (Doubleday)
Compulsively addictive, deliciously atmospheric and dripping in gothic style, Spitting Gold is a dark, sapphic fairytale. Lose yourself in a Paris richly populated with ghosts, aristocrats and heaving with dangerous glamour.
The Eights by Joanna Miller (Fig Tree)
An immersive, engaging and powerful novel of friendship and ambition which follows the first women to study at Oxford University in the shadow of the Great War. A real pleasure.
A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike (Fig Tree)
A smart, emotional and moving debut that sparkles throughout. A fresh and inventive take on Tudor times with a fantastic protagonist.
They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar (Picador)
An Afrobeat love story which takes the reader round the globe in rich evocative prose. The 1960s jazz scene comes alive in a sweeping, fascinating book about identity, families and acts of creation.
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith (Bloomsbury)
A charming mash-up of Christie and Dickensian wit with a fresh voice and lovable characters set in around the London law courts in 1901. Clever and impossible not to devour at speed.
The HWA Debut Crown Award judges are: Ayo Onatade (chair), Dan Bassett and Susan Heads.
Congratulations to all the longlisted authors!
Thank you to our hard-working judges. Their work isn’t over yet; each list has to be narrowed down to six for the shortlist and then to just one winner.
Thank you, too, to HWA Chair Imogen Robertson for organising the Crown Awards and the awards party every year.
- HWA Crown Award shortlists announced: 15 October, 2025.
- HWA Crown Award winners announced and awards ceremony: 19 November, 2025.
If you’d like to buy any of the longlisted books, go to our Bookshop account where you’ll find them listed and be able to support independent bookshops as well as these 36 impressive authors. There’s 5 per cent off at the moment, too.
Follow #HWACrowns25 on Twitter/X
Want to know more about the background to some of these books? Have a look at these Historia features:
Arthur will come again… and again… by Giles Kristian
Researching pre-colonial Africa: why the Victorians ruffled my feathers by Florence Olajide
Joanna Plantagenet, the lionhearted woman by Catherine Hanley
The liberation of Naples in 1943 – and its dire consequences by Keith Lowe
Historia interview: Clare Mulley by Carolyn Kirby (about Agent Zo)
Historia interview: AD Bergin by Carolyn Kirby (about The Wicked of the Earth)
Giulia Tofana: poisoner, murderer, saviour? by Cathryn Kemp
