The Cundill History Prize is a prestigious annual award valued at USD $75,000. The prize celebrates a recently published history book that displays both academic scholarship and literary merit.
The Department of History and Classical Studies organizes three exciting events related to the Cundill Prize: The Cundill Lecture, the Cundill Fringe, and the Cundill Forum.
The Cundill Lecture is an annual event which invites the previous year’s Cundill History Prize Winner to hold an engaging lecture on their research for students, faculty members and the public.
This year’s Cundill Lecture will feature Kathleen DuVal, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill winner of the 2024 Cundill Prize for her book Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which also won the Pulitzer History Prize in 2025.
Each year, graduate students from the Department of History and Classical Studies organize the Cundill Fringe, a discussion of the three finalist titles in contention for the prize, involving teams of graduate and undergraduate students.
Each year, the three finalists engage in a stimulating discussion of their books, moderated by a member of the Department of History and Classical Studies. The event is open to the public as well as to faculty and students.
F. Peter Cundill (1938-2011) was a distinguished alumnus of McGill. A voracious reader and inveterate traveler, he had an abiding passion for history.
The Peter Cundill Fellowship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student entering a Doctoral Programme in the Department of History.
Meet our current and past Cundill Fellows. Learn more about the exceptional research being funded by the Peter Cundill Fellowship in History.