Introduction
This guide lists law-related books that have been honored by one or more organizations for their excellence. The prizes include:
- The American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts, which "recognize outstanding work that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system."
- Order of the Coif, Coif Book Awards
- Scribes: The American Society of Legal Writers annual book awards, recognizing "the best work of legal scholarship published during the previous year."
The guide includes some law-related books that have been recognized with awards that are not limited to law, including
- Bancroft Prizes (American History, Diplomacy)
- National Book Awards
- Pulitzer Prize
We use a broad sense of "law," to include some books from history, political science, or journalism that are not exclusively about legal issues.
Browsing the Guide
We offer you different ways to browse. We started with author and subject.
We added a listing by publication date, thinking that some readers might want to see what books attracted notice within the last few years. Some older books are still as terrific and though-provoking as when they were published—but we understand the draw of the new. Note that there's always a time lag between a book's publication and its receiving an award.
Finding the Books
Each book's entry links to a catalog record. From there you can request the book—or, if you're in the library, walk to the shelf.
Often the University Libraries and Summit offer access to a title in more than one way—e.g., hardback, paperback, and e-book. So the catalog record this guide links to might not show the only book available. To check for other editions, search the catalog.
UW Libraries Search
Book Awards
Some of the following awards are devoted to law or to legal specialties such as legal history or international law. Awards for other fields (e.g., the Spurs Awards) only occasionally recognize a law-related work.
We haven't harvested all the law-related books from all of the award recipients. Our list is a work in progress.
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American College of Financial Services Lawyers Writing CompetitionDoesn't usually have a Books category, but can.
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American Psychology-Law Society Book Award"The American Psychology-Law Society Book Award is given to a scholarly book devoted to psychology and law issues . . . The Book Award is given separately for authored and edited books on an annual, rotating basis."
Renamed Lawrence S. Wrightsman Book Award in Aug. 2019. -
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction & NonfictionAmerican Library Association
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ASIL Certificates of MeritThe American Society of International Law "annually bestows three book awards, known as ASIL Certificates of Merit, for a 'preeminent contribution to creative scholarship,' in 'a specialized area of international law;' and for 'high technical craftsmanship and utility to practicing lawyers and scholars.'
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Association for Political & Legal Anthropology Book PrizeThe award recognizes "work that best exemplifies creativity and rigor in the ethnographic exploration of politics, law, and/or their interstices."
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Bancroft Prizes"two annual prizes of equal rank to be awarded to the authors of distinguished works in either or both of the following categories: American History (including biography) and Diplomacy."
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Bruce K. Gould Book Award (Touro Law)"presented annually to the author of an outstanding publication related to the law, legal profession or legal system."
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C. Herman Pritchett Award (American Political Science Association)"given annually for the best book on law and courts written by a political scientist and published the previous year."
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Chieron Book Prize"Beginning in 2004, Cheiron: The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences has awarded the Cheiron Book Prize biennially for an outstanding monograph in the history of the social/behavioral/human sciences."
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Coif Book AwardOrder of the Coif.
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Cromwell Book PrizeAmerican Society for Legal History.
"excellence in scholarship in the field of American Legal History by an early career scholar. " -
Cundill History Prize (McGill)"Administered by McGill University in Montreal, the Cundill History Prize generously rewards the leading historians of our time, . . . A distinguished jury is seeking the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal."
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Darlene Clark Hine Award"The Darlene Clark Hine Award is given annually by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book in African American women's and gender history."
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David Montgomery Award"The David Montgomery Award is given annually by the OAH with co-sponsorship by the Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA) for the best book on a topic in American labor and working-class history. "
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Ellis W. Hawley Prize"The Ellis W. Hawley Prize is given annually by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book-length historical study of the political economy, politics, or institutions of the United States, in its domestic or international affairs, from the Civil War to the present. "
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ESIL Book PrizeEuropean Society of International Law
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Frederick Jackson Turner Award"The Frederick Jackson Turner Award is given annually by the Organization of American Historians to the author of a first scholarly book dealing with some aspect of American history."
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Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism (New York Public Library)"This prestigious award is given annually to journalists whose books have brought clarity and public attention to important issues, events, or policies."
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Herbert Jacob Book Prize (Law & Society Association)"Established in 1996 as the LSA Book Award, and re-named in memory of Herbert Jacob, past President of LSA, the competition is open to books from all fields of, and approaches to, law and society scholarship—excluding only works of socio-legal history, which are considered for the Hurst Prize."
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International Law Book AwardInternational Studies Association.
"The International Law Book Award recognizes a book that excels in originality, significance and rigor in the broadly defined field of international law." -
J. Willard Hurst Prize (Law & Society Association)"In the spirit of Willard Hurst's own work, the Hurst Prize is given to the best work in socio-legal history. The field of socio-legal history is broadly defined to include the history of interrelationships between law and social, economic, and political change; the history of functions and impact of legal agencies, legislative and administrative as well as judicial; the social history of the legal profession; and similar topics"
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James A. Rawley Prize"The James A. Rawley Prize is given annually by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book dealing with the history of race relations in the United States."
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John Phillip Reid Book Award (American Society for Legal History)"an annual award for the best monograph by a mid-career or senior scholar, published in English in any of the fields defined broadly as Anglo-American legal history."
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Lawrence S. Wrightsman Book Award (American Psychology-Law Society)Awarded in alternating years for authored and for edited books.
Formerly American Psychology-Law Society Book Award. -
Liberty Legacy Foundation Award (Organization of American Historians)"the Liberty Legacy Foundation Award is given annually by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book by a historian on the civil rights struggle from the beginnings of the nation to the present."
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Lillian Smith Book Awards"The Lillian Smith Book Awards are most interested in works that deal with race, social justice, civil and human rights, the education and socialization of young people, breaking silence among repressed groups and matters that are notably significant or of special interest affecting the changing South."
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Littleton-Griswold PrizeAmerican Historical Association's award "for the best book in any subject on the history of American law and society."
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Merli Curti Intellectual & Social History AwardsOrganization of American Historians
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NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary WorkThe NAACP Image Awards are "the ultimate platform for artists and individuals of color who advocate for social justice to share their voices with millions, and to be recognized and celebrated"
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National Book AwardsA list by category is here.
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Peter Gonville Stein Book Award (American Society for Legal History)"The American Society for Legal History announces the Peter Gonville Stein Book Award, to be presented annually for the best book in legal history written in English. This award is designed to recognize and encourage the further growth of fine work in legal history that focuses on all non-US regions, as well as global and international history."
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Philip Taft Labor History AwardCornell University ILR School.
"The prize committee defines "labor history" in a broad sense to include the history of workers (free and unfree, organized and unorganized), their institutions, and their workplaces, as well as the broader historical trends that have shaped working-class life, including but not limited to: immigration, slavery, community, the state, race, gender, and ethnicity." -
PROSE AwardsProfessional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the American Association of Publishers. "The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in 58 categories." Categories include "Law & Legal Studies" and "Government & Politics."
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Ralph Gomory Prize (Business History Conference)Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
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Ralph J. Bunche Award (American Political Science Association)"The Ralph J. Bunche Award honors the best scholarly work in political science that explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism."
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Ralph Waldo Emerson Award (Phi Beta Kappa)"The Ralph Waldo Emerson Award is offered for scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity. Established in 1960, this award may recognize work in the fields of history, philosophy and religion. These fields are conceived in sufficiently broad terms to permit the inclusion of appropriate work in related fields such as anthropology and the social sciences. Biographies of public figures may be eligible if their primary critical emphasis is on the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity."
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Ray Allen Billington Prize (Organization of American Historians)"The Ray Allen Billington Prize is awarded biennially by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book on the history of native and/or settler peoples in frontier, border, and borderland zones of intercultural contact in any century to the present and to include works that address the legacies of those zones."
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Robert F. Kennedy Book Award"honors authors whose writing, in illuminating past or present injustice, acts as a beacon towards a more just society."
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Scribes Book Award"Since 1961, Scribes has presented an annual award for the best work of legal scholarship published during the previous year."
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Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts (American Bar Association)
Works "that have been exemplary in helping to foster the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system." -
Spur Awards (Western Writers of America)Categories include types of fiction and nonfiction.
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Stonewall Book Awards"The first and most enduring award for GLBT books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table."
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Thomas M. Cooley Book Prize (Georgetown)Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Prize established in 2017.
