Princeton Historian Beth Lew-Williams Wins the 2026 Cundill History Prize
Princeton historian Beth Lew-Williams has won the 2026 Cundill History Prize for John Doe Chinaman: A Forgotten History of Chinese Life under American Racial Law. The winner was announced at an awards ceremony on 23 October, held during the Cundill History Prize Festival, and the prize carries $75,000.
The Cundill History Prize is an international award for history books. McGill University administers it. This year, 15 titles were drawn from more than 400 entries, and an international jury chose Lew-Williams's book from that group. The jury was chaired by Emily Greenwood, a classics professor at Harvard University.
The two other finalists, Jonathan Cheng and Alexander Lee, were each awarded $10,000. All three finalists were named in September, and the three of them also took part in a panel discussion known as the Cundill Forum.
The book looks at laws that targeted Chinese people in the American West from the 1850s to the 1920s. Its title refers to "John Doe," the name used in legal documents to stand in for an unnamed person, and the book traces how racial law shaped everyday life for Chinese migrants and their families during those decades. Harvard University Press published it. The Cundill Prize lists the specific imprint as Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, a branded line of books within the university's publishing operation.
Lew-Williams is Professor of History and Director of the Program in Asian American Studies at Princeton University. Her win was reported by The Bookseller, a UK trade publication that covers the book business, under the headline "Beth Lew-Williams wins $75k Cundill History Prize."
For readers, the result is a clear signal that a historical study of racial law in the American West now carries an international prize. Prize money is paid to the author and does not depend on how many copies a book sells. The official Cundill History Prize announcement on 24 October gave the full list of winners and finalists.
Last year's prize went to Lyndal Roper, and the jury for that award was chaired by Ada Ferrer. Each year brings a new winner and a new jury, and this year's jury has now chosen its book.
