The ballots have been cast, the votes have been counted, and we are delighted to announce the winners of the MHM Book Awards. We carefully curated a list of 2020’s best military-history titles and asked you, our readers, to vote for your favourite. Our selection included some of the best-researched, most-insightful, and most-readable titles reviewed and featured in the magazine over the last year.
You can read reviews of all 12 nominated books here.
MHM BOOKS OF THE YEAR
WINNER – GOLD AWARD
The Song of Simon de Montfort: England’s first revolutionary and the death of chivalry
Sophie Thérèse Ambler
Picador
The Gold Award for MHM Book of the Year 2021 goes to The Song of Simon de Montfort: England’s first revolutionary and the death of chivalry.
Simon de Montfort was a colossus in English affairs during the 13th century, infamously falling foul of King Henry III (or, more precisely, Henry’s son Edward I) in 1265. This skilful biography reveals the less understood festering quarrel that simmered between king and Simon, an often-unattractive figure who was shaped by the mores of his times.
WINNER – SILVER AWARD
Hunger: how food shaped the course of the First World War
Rick Blom
Uniform Press/WLU Press
The subject of food – and the lack of it – haunts the First World War, from the notorious Schlieffen Plan that promised ‘breakfast in Paris and dinner in St Petersburg’ to Kitchener’s warning that the war would be ‘no picnic’. Rick Blom gives us much to chew over in this brief history, interspersed with original soldiers’ recipes – some more appetising than others.
WINNER – BRONZE AWARD
Lancaster: the forging of a very British legend
John Nichol
Simon & Schuster
The history of the Lancaster bomber is also the history of Britain’s entire aerial war effort: from the recovery of PoWs back to Britain in Operation Exodus to ‘Bomber’ Harris and his notorious preference for area-bombing. John Nichol’s book is the perfect guide, narrating the story not only of the aircraft but also of those who flew her.
Thank you to everyone who took part in voting this year. To find out more about the magazine and how to subscribe, click here.
