American Politics Group

Site of the American Politics Group of the UK Political Studies Association

The Richard E. Neustadt Book Prize

Richard E. Neustadt

The APG awards the Richard E. Neustadt Book Prize to the best book in the field of US government and politics (including political history and foreign policy) published in each calendar year and authored by an academic permanently employed at a university in the UK or mainland Europe. The prize is formally awarded at the APG Annual Colloquium held at the Eccles Centre each November.

The 2022 prize was won by Olivier Burtin for his book A Nation of Veterans: War, Citizenship, and the Welfare State in Modern America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022). Commenting on winning the prize Olivier said:

‘I am honored to be the recipient of the 2022 Richard E. Neustadt book prize. It is humbling to have my book featured in a list that includes so many leading scholars of the United States working outside its borders. It is also a testament to the strong bonds that continue to link British Americanists with their colleagues in mainland Europe. As someone based in France who has participated in multiple scholarly events in the UK in the past—organized by the Second World War Research Group, the British Association of American Studies, the Rothermere American Institute, or the Historians of the Twentieth Century United States—I am thankful that these bonds exist and glad to see them renewed once again. I am of course particularly grateful to the leaders of the American Politics Group and the members of the Neustadt award committee for their work and their support. Thank you!’

The 2021 prize was won by Ursula Hackett for her book America’s Voucher Politics: How Elites Learned to Hide the State (Cambridge University Press: 2020). Commenting on winning the prize Ursula said:

‘I am delighted to have been awarded the 2021 Richard E. Neustadt book prize and joined such a distinguished list of recipients – a roll call of top Americanists working outside the United States. Several former award-winners are personal mentors and friends, and I am honoured for my work to be recognized alongside theirs. The American Politics Group is the premier professional association for Americanists in the UK. I am grateful to the organisers and the Neustadt award committee for their work boosting the profile of American politics within the discipline and beyond. Thank you!’

A video of the late-great Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, the widow Richard E. Neustadt, awarding the 2018 prize to Barbara Allen & Daniel Stevens at the 2019 APG Colloquium can be found below. In this video Baroness Williams reflects on, among other things, what her late husband may have made of the Trump era:

Previous winners

  • 2022: A Nation of Veterans: War, Citizenship, and the Welfare State in Modern America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022)
  • 2021: Ursula Hackett, America’s Voucher Politics: How Elites Learned to Hide the State (Cambridge University Press: 2020)
  • 2019 & 2020: Sadly cancelled due to logistical issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic
  • 2018: Barbara Allen & Daniel Stevens, Truth in Advertising: Lies in Political Advertising and how they affect the electorate (Lexington Books)
  • 2017: Mark Shanahan, Eisenhower at the Dawn of the Space Age: Sputniks, Rockets and Helping Hands (Lexington Books, 2017).
  • 2016: Donald Ratcliffe, The One-Party Presidential Contest: Adams, Jackson, and 1824’s Five-Horse Race (University Press of Kansas).
  • 2015: Steven Casey, When Soldiers Fall: How Americans Have Confronted Combat Losses from World War I to Afghanistan (Oxford University Press, 2014).
  • 2014: Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, The American Left: Its Impact on Politics and Society since 1900 (Edinburgh University Press, 2013).
  • 2013: Andrew Preston, Sword of the Spirit, Shield of the Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy (Anchor Books, 2012).
  • 2012: Alan Ware, Political Conflict in America (Palgrave Macmillan: 2011).
  • 2011: Stephen Tuck, We Ain’t What We Ought to Be (Harvard UP, 2010).
  • 2010: Iwan Morgan, Age of Deficits (UP of Kansas, 2009).
  • 2009: Robert Singh and Timothy Lynch, After Bush (Cambridge UP, 2008).
  • Stephen Casey, Selling the Korean War (OUP, 2008)
  • 2008: Gareth Davies, See Government Grow: Education Politics from Johnson to Reagan (University Press of Kansas, 2007).
  • 2007: Hugh Brogan, Alexis de Toqueville (Profile Books, 2006).
  • 2006: Nigel Bowles, Nixon’s Business (Texas A&M UP, 2005).
  • 2005: John Dumbrell, President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Communism (MUP, 2004).

If you were a recipient of this prize and are not listed here, please get in touch: p.finn@kingston.ac.uk