We’re delighted to announce the HWA Crown Awards longlists for 2024, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published during 2023–2024.
There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown.
Here are the 36 longlisted books and what our judges say about them.
The books longlisted for the HWA Crown Awards for 2024 are:
Gold Crown Award 2024 longlist
The Glutton by AK Blakemore (Granta)
A Rabelaisian allegory of personal and political distemper in 1790s France. Richly and deliciously written.
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (Quercus)
A detective, a family curse and a fox all come together in early 20th-century Manchuria. Melding mystery, love and revenge, this is a true page-turner.
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.
Loot by Tania James (Harvill Secker)
An engrossing story built around the creation of Tipu’s Tiger, still on display at the V&A. From India, via France, to England, this is a true 18th-century adventure.
The Book of Days by Francesca Kay (Swift Press)
Beautiful and understated. A totally absorbing account of life as a young wife in the dying days of Henry VIII’s reign.
Quint by Robert Lautner (The Borough Press)
Not just a prequel to Jaws, but rather a highly impressive exercise in character. Complex and compelling.
Cast a Cold Eye by Robbie Morrison (Pan)
Scottish noir at its finest. A deftly plotted 1930s crime novel that weaves a fictional family tragedy around real-life events.
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.
Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain (Vintage)
A masterpiece of form; Tremain captures how a certain generation of women, from a certain class, thought about their lives.
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.
Non-fiction Crown Award 2024 longlist
I Seek a Kind Person: My Father, Seven Children and the Adverts that Helped Them Escape the Holocaust by Julian Borger (John Murray)
Illuminating account of a lesser-known aspect of the war. The author’s personal experience leads to wider research which details moving accounts of children and adults caught up in the war.
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.
Messalina: The Life and Times of Rome’s Most Scandalous Empress by Honor Cargill-Martin (Apollo)
An engaging and completely successful attempt to restore the reputation of the empress. The author re-evaluates primary sources to produce a thoroughly readable and thought-provoking book.
Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany 1945–49 by Daniel Cowling (Apollo)
A fascinating and highly readable exploration of the work of the Control Commission in Germany in the aftermath of the Second World War. Contemporary personal accounts bring to the life the monumental task of reconstruction, denazification and ‘winning the peace’ as well as the need to justify the spiralling costs to people back home who thought the Germans ‘had it coming’.
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.
The Exiled: Empire, Immigration and the Ugandan Asian Exodus by Lucy Fulford (Coronet)
An evocative study that examines an overlooked aspect of 20th-century immigration. Personal and often traumatic reading, Fulford nevertheless has produced a nuanced account that reveals the complexities of modern Britain and the haunting legacy of empire. Riveting, if uncomfortable.
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.
A Dirty Filthy Book: Sex, Scandal, and One Woman’s Fight in the Victorian Trial of the Century by Michael Meyer (WH Allen)
Annie Besant’s public battle for women’s control over their reproductive health in the Victorian Age still resonates over 150 years on. This is vital but little-known history, here told with vigour and scholarly heft.
Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the War Between Science and Religion by Michael Taylor (Bodley Head)
A clear and entertaining exposition of the contortions of Christian leaders in their attempt to deny, spin, and ultimately integrate into Biblical teaching each new discovery of the fossil evidence of dinosaurs and the origins of mankind, set against the scientists’ slowly-advancing theories of evolution.
The HWA Non-fiction Crown Award judges are: Isabelle Grey (chair), Nathen Amin, Pete Brown, Jacqueline Riding and Annie Whitehead.
Debut Crown Award 2023 longlist
The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker (Fourth Estate)
A charming and irresistible story with a rich cast of fully-rounded characters, immersing the reader into the world of mediums in 19th century London.
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.
Leeward by Katie Daysh (Canelo)
A thrilling novel of the high seas – deft, emotional and absorbing with a compelling lead, written with raw power.
Colours of Siena by Judith May Evans (Conrad Press)
A vivid drama of medieval Siena with an inspiring heroine and a striking and evocative exploration of the life and work of an artist at the dawn of the renaissance.
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.
All Us Sinners by Katy Massey (Sphere)
An empathetic, moving, but unflinching crime novel set against the background of the Yorkshire Ripper killings in the 1970s. Fantastic writing and characters that will remain with readers for a long time to come.
Our Hideous Progeny by CE McGill (Penguin)
A fantastic slice of gothic splendour, dark and deftly written, following the sharp-tongued great-niece of Victor Frankenstein blossoming in a story which is all her own.
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 Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer (Phoenix)
A terrifying story of persecution, paranoia and claustrophobia. A brilliant and unflinching study of a witch-hunt which is compelling from the first page.
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.
Congratulations to all the longlisted authors!
And 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.
HWA Crown Award shortlists announced: 16 October, 2024
HWA Crown Award winners announced and awards ceremony: 20 November, 2024
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