Historian Joya Chatterji has been named the winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2024 for her genre-defying history of South Asia: Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century.
The winner of the most prestigious history writing prize in the UK was announced at a ceremony in central London. Chatterji was awarded £50,000, and celebrated alongside the other five shortlisted authors who each took home £5,000.
Shadows at Noon, previously longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2024 and shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize 2024, pushes back against standard narratives of the subcontinent that emphasise the differences between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and instead seeks to highlight what unites these three nations and their peoples.
This unique academic work – interwoven with Chatterji’s own reflections on growing up in India — adopts a conversational writing style, and takes a thematic rather than chronological approach. Everyday experiences of food, cinema and the household are given an equal footing to discussions about politics and nationhood.
As a result, the cultural vibrancy of South Asia shines through the research, allowing readers a more nuanced understanding of the region.
A distinguished judging panel comprising historians Mary Beard, Richard Evans, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Carole Hillenbrand, Diarmaid MacCulloch and chair David Cannadine presided over the shortlist for 2024, which seeks to recognise books which combine excellence in research with readability for a general audience.
The judges commented on the Wolfson History Prize 2024 winner, Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji: ‘A captivating history of modern South Asia, full of fascinating insights about the lives of its peoples. Written with verve and energy, this book beautifully blends the personal and the historical.’
David Cannadine, chair of the Wolfson History Prize judges said: ‘Shadows at Noon is a highly ambitious history of twentieth-century South Asia that defies easy categorisation, combining rigorous historical research with personal reminiscence and family anecdotes. Chatterji writes with wit and perception, shining a light on themes that have shaped the subcontinent during this period. We extend our warmest congratulations to Joya Chatterji on her Wolfson History Prize win.’
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation said: ‘For over fifty years, the Wolfson History Prize has celebrated exceptional history writing that is rooted in meticulous research with engaging and accessible prose. Shadows at Noon is a remarkable example of this, and Joya Chatterji captivates readers with her compelling storytelling of modern South Asian history.’
Since its publication in 2023, Shadows at Noon has received widespread praise, including:
- “Supremely readable … Chatterji’s scholarship and enthusiasm shine through. This account of South Asia surprises, moves and illuminates” (Rana Mitter, Financial Times)
- “Original and revealing … this is a book which both scholars and the wider public can dip into, enjoy and learn from” (Literary Review)
- “A provocative, pioneering work of political and social history…[an] invigorating book…nuanced and complex” (Times Literary Supplement)
- “A cheerful history of the subcontinent, by turns erudite, eclectic, analytical, gossipy and prolix” (History Today)
Covering multiple centuries and countries, with a focus on major turning points in the histories of the Americas, Britain, Bangladesh, Germany, India, Pakistan and South Africa, the books shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2024 were:
- Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji (The Bodley Head)
- Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire by Nandini Das (Bloomsbury Publishing)
- Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by Nicholas Radburn (Yale University Press)
- Our NHS: A History of Britain’s Best-Loved Institution by Andrew Seaton (Yale University Press)
- Winnie & Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg (William Collins)
- Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022 by Frank Trentmann (Allen Lane)
Over the past 52 years, the annual Wolfson History Prize has championed the finest history writing by authors and historians including Simon Schama, William Dalrymple, Amanda Vickery and Clare Jackson. Previous winners of the Wolfson History Prize include Antony Beevor for Stalingrad, Antonia Fraser for The Weaker Vessel: Woman’s Lot in Seventeenth-Century England and Mary Fulbrook for Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice. The 2023 prize was won by Halik Kochanski for Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-45.
The Wolfson History Prize is run and awarded by the Wolfson Foundation, an independent charity with a focus on research and education.
