Nominees Announced for the 2026 George Washington Prize, One of America’s Most Prestigious Literary Awards  

Finalists to Appear in Conversation at Mount Vernon on August 20

Mount Vernon, VA, July 17, 2026 — Five books published in 2025 and written by some of the nation’s most renowned historians are finalists for the 2026 George Washington Prize. This annual award celebrates the year’s best works on the founding of our nation, particularly those that broaden public knowledge of early American history.

The $50,000 George Washington Prize, created by George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Washington College, is one of the nation’s largest and most notable literary awards.

The 2026 George Washington Prize finalists are (in alphabetical order):

• Richard Bell, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World (Riverhead Books, 2025) 

• Joyce Chaplin, The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025)

• Steven Sarson, The Course of Human Events: The Declaration of Independence and the Historical Origins of the United States (‎University of Virginia Press, 2025)

• Paul Staiti, The Killing of Jane McCrea: An American Tragedy on the Revolutionary Frontier (Westholme Publishing, 2025)

• Amy Watson, Patriots Before Revolution: The Rise of Party Politics in the British Atlantic, 1714-1763 (Yale University Press, 2025)

Lindsay Chervinksy, Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library, said, “We are so thrilled to share finalists that highlight the breadth and depth of the American Revolution, in the United States and around the globe. They offer something for every reader excited by the nation's 250th anniversary to learn more about the country's founding story.”

James Basker, President and CEO of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, said, “The ideals and events of the American founding are still reverberating 250 years later, as these excellent books show. New stories, new insights, and a renewed sense of why history matters more than ever!”

Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College, said, “In this landmark anniversary year of our nation’s founding, both scholars and readers are paying renewed attention to the meaning and memory of the Revolution. The 2026 finalists demonstrate that new light is being shed on the old stories, and that the global reverberations of 1776 continue to echo today.” 

Each year since the Prize was created in 2005, an independent jury has evaluated 50 to 100 books published in the previous year that explore the history of the American founding era. The five books named finalists for the 2026 Prize are outstanding examples of robust and thought-provoking explorations of America’s unique history.

The finalists will discuss their books at an event at George Washington’s Mount Vernon on Thursday, August 20, 2026. The authors will be available for book signings immediately following the conversation.

The George Washington Prize winner will be announced at a gala dinner in New York City on October 5, 2026. 

More information about the George Washington Prize is available at https://www.mountvernon.org/gwprize. 

 

About the Sponsors of the George Washington Prize 

Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. The estate is open to visitors and includes the Mansion, a museum and education center, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery, and a gristmill. It also includes the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Learn more at mountvernon.org. 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, visionaries and lifelong supporters of American history education. The Institute is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education while also serving the general public. Its mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Organization of American Historians, the Council of Independent Colleges, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Learn more at gilderlehrman.org.

Washington College was founded in 1782, the first institution of higher learning established in the new republic. George Washington was not only a principal donor to the college, but also a member of its original governing board. He received an honorary degree from the college in June 1789, two months after assuming the presidency. The college’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Learn more at www.washcoll.edu. 

  

### 

 

Additional Information

Richard Bell, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World

Richard Bell, a British-born historian, restores the American Revolution to the vast imperial worlds in which it was born, waged, and won. In his hands, the War for American Independence becomes a sweeping struggle over commerce, boundaries, sovereignty, slavery, and the very meaning of liberty itself. Moving from familiar locales like Boston and Philadelphia across the Atlantic and as far afield as India and Australia, Bell shows how a rebellion in thirteen minor British colonies in America remade lives and reordered empires across the globe. He is especially good at recovering the voices of those pushed to the margins of patriotic narratives, from Molly Brant and Harry Washington to privateers, convicts, common soldiers, and loyalist refugees. Accessibly written and exhaustively researched, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World is a timely reminder that America’s story has never unfolded in isolation.

  

Joyce Chaplin, The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution 

Sparkling, witty, compelling—not the usual adjectives applied to a deeply researched historical study. But in the hands of a master historian, the humble Franklin stove provides the starting point for wide-ranging and inventive (pun intended) discussions of technology, colonialism, science, and the environment. Along the way, Joyce Chaplin also offers a fresh take on Benjamin Franklin, as scientist and entrepreneur. Chaplin especially shines when she links the historical past to the urgencies of the present. Anyone who thinks our environmental problems and possible solutions are new to America will be struck by the similarities between then and now. 

  

Steven Sarson, The Course of Human Events: The Declaration of Independence and the Historical Origins of the United States 

With this timely book, Steven Sarson reminds readers that the authors and signers of the Declaration of Independence operated . . . well . . . in the course of human events. That is, they molded the Declaration within a long context of historical events. Rather than a rupture with history, the Declaration encapsulated long-held understandings of natural law, which Sarson argues lay at the heart of the document. As Americans commemorate America250, Sarson demonstrates that they have much to celebrate in the revolutionary aspirational creeds of the Declaration even as they confront a document wedded to the past as much as to the future. 

  

Paul Staiti, The Killing of Jane McCrea: An American Tragedy on the American Frontier

There was a time when everyone in the British Atlantic world knew (or thought they knew) the tragic story of Jane McCrea. Acclaimed art historian Paul Staiti centers this long-forgotten tale around an arresting 1804 painting in order to dive deeply into issues of Native Americans, the war of independence from both sides, and the use of women in propaganda. With the expertise and zest of an accomplished storyteller, Staiti uses visual images, commentaries, personal papers, and literature to both show the ubiquity of the incident and demonstrate the multiple meanings for people of the time. Ultimately, the Native Americans must also be counted as victims of this tragic tale as it became a rationale for discrimination and violence. 

  

Amy Watson, Patriots Before the Revolution: The Rise of Party Politics in the British Atlantic, 1714−1763 

In this eye-opening reconstruction of eighteenth-century British politics, Amy Watson reveals an American Revolution that was, with thorough irony, very British. She exposes a British Empire rife with political dissent and instability before 1763, providing critical insight into the historical context of American revolutionaries. Rather than invent new theories about British constitutionalism, those revolutionaries drew on decades of arguments about the proper limits and purposes of Parliament’s power. They also borrowed means of protesting what they considered Parliamentary overreach. Around the British Empire—in London, Edinburgh, New York, and Georgia—British subjects contested Parliamentary powers with oppositional politics that future American revolutionaries adopted. 

To receive event invitations, information and updates for these and all Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience events and programs, please subscribe to our newsletter. 

 

 

### 

 

About Washington College

Washington College, Maryland’s premier small college, enrolls approximately 1,000 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 23 nations. Washington is known for outstanding academics in more than 50 academic programs. With an emphasis on experiential learning opportunities across disciplines, ranging from internships and research to international study and civic engagement, Washington prepares students for successful careers and lives after graduation. The College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing as well as the 5,000-acre River and Field Campus, which provides unique research opportunities for students and faculty. Learn more at www.washcoll.edu. 

 

About the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience

Washington College’s Starr Center explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires civic engagement informed by history. We offer college students dynamic opportunities for hands-on learning and off-campus experiences unequaled at other small liberal arts schools. To learn more about our innovative public history projects; prizes and fellowships; staff and students; scholarships and internships; and our partnerships with some of America’s leading cultural institutions: washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/starr/