Pritzker Military Museum & Library Announces 2014 Literature Award Winner

Chicago, Illinois

British historian and author Antony Beevor is the winner of the 2014 Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. Tim O'Brien, the 2013 Pritzker Literature Award recipient, announced via pritzkermilitary.org that Beevor will receive the coveted $100,000 literature award at the Museum & Library's annual gala in Chicago on Nov. 8.

The Pritzker Literature Award, which includes a medallion, citation, and $100,000 honorarium, recognizes and honors the contributions of a living author for a body of work dedicated to enriching the understanding of military history. First awarded to historian James McPherson in 2007, it has since become one of the most prestigious literary prizes of its kind. Other past recipients-several of whom served as members of the award's 2014 screening committee-are Allan Millett, Gerhard Weinberg, Rick Atkinson, Carlo D'Este, Max Hastings, and O'Brien.

"Winning this award is, for me, the greatest honor imaginable-partly because of the reputation of the prize, but also because on the panel of judges are some of the historians that I admire most in the world," Beevor said. "It may be for lifetime achievement, which has a retrospective air in some ways, but I think the wonderful idea is that it is the greatest carrot imaginable to push you forward and keep you writing."

Beevor, a distinguished Fellow of Britain's Royal Society of Literature and former officer of the British Army's 11th Hussars, has published four novels and 10 books of nonfiction. He has been heralded as one of the world's finest military historians, and his books-the most recent of which is entitled "The Second World War"-have sold more than six million copies in 30 languages.

"The committee was unanimous in recommending Antony Beevor as this year's recipient," said Pritzker Literature Award Screening Committee chairman John W. Rowe. "Mr. Beevor is at the height of his powers as a military historian, and he is a wonderful representative of the tradition the Museum & Library has established with the previous recipients. Colonel Pritzker has done something very special with this prestigious award."

Beevor's works include "Inside the British Army"; "Crete-The Battle and the Resistance," which was awarded a Runciman Prize; and "Paris After the Liberation, 1944-1949." His best-selling "Stalingrad," first published in 1998, won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson Prize for
History, and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature; and 2009's "D-Day-The Battle for Normandy" became a number-one bestseller in seven countries, including the United Kingdom and France.

The Pritzker Literature Award is sponsored by Chicago's Tawani Foundation. To learn more, visit http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/literature-award.

ABOUT THE PRITZKER MILITARY MUSEUM & LIBRARY
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library is open to the public and features an extensive collection of books, artifacts, and rotating exhibits covering many eras and branches of the military. Since opening in 2003, it has become a center where citizens and Citizen Soldiers come together to learn about military history and the role of the Armed Forces in today's society. The Museum & Library is a non-partisan, non-government information center supported by its members and donors.

ABOUT TAWANI FOUNDATION
Founded by Colonel (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired), Tawani Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) grant-making organization whose mission is to enhance the awareness and understanding of the importance of the Citizen Soldier; to preserve unique sites of significance to American and military history; to foster health and wellness projects for improved quality of life; and to honor the service of military personnel-past, present and future-through an awards program that includes the JROTC/ROTC Award for Military Excellence and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.

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