The Social Science History Association announces the annual President's Book Award of $1000 for a new manuscript. The prize rewards an especially meritorious first work by a beginning scholar. Scholars who have a previously-published book are not eligible for this award. Entrants will be judged on the criteria of scholarly significance, interdisciplinary reach, and methodological innovativeness, within the broad category of monographs analyzing past structures and events and change over time. SSHA invites studies of family and demography, popular mentalities, political economy, state-society relationships, electoral and legislative behavior, and the history of the social and behavioral sciences; other substantive realms may also be represented. The Association includes in consideration theoretically-informed accounts examined from quantitative, interpretive, and other perspectives.

Manuscripts can be under consideration by a press at the time of submission to the award committee but must not be in print before the prize is awarded (this year, in October). A letter from the press stating that the manuscript would not be published before December, 2008 will be required. A manuscript may only be submitted for this award once; manuscripts that were submitted in an earlier year but are not yet in print are not allowed.

The deadline for submission is June 30, 2008. A copy of the manuscript and a current CV should be sent to EACH member of the committee listed below, including one copy to the Association’s Executive Director. You may contact the Committee Chair Wilbur Miller at wrmiller@notes.cc.sunysb.edu with any queries. Note: manuscripts submitted for this award will not be returned.

Announcement of the winner of the 2008 President’s Book Award will be made at the 2008 meetings of the SSHA in Miami, FL 23-26 October 2008.