Professor David Abulafia ( OP 1963-67) has won the 2020 Wolfson History Prize for ‘The Boundless Sea’. He dedicated his book ‘Praeceptoribus Paulinis’ – Pauline teachers.
David Abulafia’s The Boundless Sea is a history told through humanity’s relationship with the world’s oceans. Judging panel chair David Cannadine said: ‘The Boundless Sea tackles a world-encompassing subject: humanity’s constantly changing relationship with the seas that cover most of our planet and on which our very lives depend. This is a book of deep scholarship, brilliantly written and we extend our warmest congratulations to David Abulafia.’
The Boundless Sea was chosen from a shortlist of six titles that also included Dr Toby Green’s (OP 1987-92) A Fistful of Shells. The nomination read: ‘Toby Green’s groundbreaking new book transforms our view of West and West-Central Africa. A Fistful of Shells draws not just on written histories, but on archival research in nine countries, on art, praise-singers, oral history, archaeology, letter and the author’s personal experience to create a new perspective on the history of one of the world’s most important regions.’
Photo credit: Marit Hommedal / SCANPIX / Holbergprisen
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