1997 Longman/History Today Awards

Kit Wedd gives an account of the winners from History Today's 1997 history writing awards.

The 1997 Longman/History Today Awards were given by Roy Porter at a ceremony in the Royal Society, London, on January 6th, 1998. These awards, which are now in their fifth year, aim to encourage new writing in history. The winner of the Book of the Year Award was the naval historian Dr Andrew Gordon, for The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command (John Murray).

Dr Gordon described himself as 'a little dizzy with surprise' at receiving the £1,000 prize from Professor Porter, of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.

Andrew Gordon’s book, which investigates the Royal Navy’s command-and-control structures in the First World War, analyses their impact on the conduct of the three key figures on the British side at Jutland – Jellicoe, Beatty and Evans-Thomas. It was praised by the judges as highly readable and amazingly detailed, with a microscopic analysis of technology and strategy combined with broader cultural, social and diplomatic themes.

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