The Society for Military History
Distinguished Book Awards for 2025 https://www.smh-hq.org/booknom.html
Background: The Society for Military History is soliciting nominations for its annual Distinguished Book Awards for 2025. Established in 1933, the Society is devoted to stimulating and advancing the study of military history. Its membership (today more than 2,600) includes many of the most prominent scholars, soldiers, and citizens interested in military history. The Society encourages research and publication across the whole range of military history (ancient, medieval, and modern, including related popular studies). The Society publishes The Journal of Military History, the leading international scholarly journal of military history.
The Distinguished Book Awards: For the 2025 awards, books published (copyright date) in 2023 and 2024 are eligible. Works previously nominated for the Society’s book awards may be resubmitted provided they were published in 2023. Nominated books should be assigned to one of the following prize categories:
· Distinguished Book (two awards)
Edited and Reference works contain collections of information, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, handbooks, and diagnostic manuals.)
Biography and Memoirs (works that examine the life of a single individual or the lives of multiple individuals; or first-person accounts of lived experiences in the context of war and/or the military)
First Book (works that represent a single author’s first monograph).
The committee will make its selections for awards by January 30, 2025.
The Society will give the awards at its annual meeting in Mobile, Alabama on March 27-30, 2025. The author of each prize-winning book will receive recognition at the Society’s annual awards presentation, an award plaque, and a $1000 prize.
The Committee must receive books for consideration for the 2025 awards by October 7, 2024.
Publishers must follow this process for each volume they intend to submit:
Please send a copy of each book for consideration with a letter specifying consideration for the SMH Book Awards to each committee member at the addresses listed below. Books must be submitted in physical copy, and electronic versions will not be considered. The Committee recognizes the expense to authors and publishers associated with submitting five copies of each nominated book and therefore encourages serious submissions only. Please note that books will not be returned and that only award winners will be notified of selection.
At the discretion of the Committee submissions which are received after October 7, 2024, may be deferred for consideration in the 2026 awards.
Sincerely,
Debra J. Sheffer, PhD
Chair SMH Book Awards Committee
Email: debra.sheffer@park.edu