Not all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers.

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman Book Award

The Harry S. Truman Book Award is presented biennially by the Truman Library Institute. Established in 1963, the Harry S. Truman Book Award recognizes the best book published within a two-year period dealing primarily and substantially with some aspect of the history of the United States between April 12, 1945 and January 20, 1953, or with the life or career of Harry S. Truman.

Books written about Harry S. Truman or the period of his presidency and published between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 are eligible for the 2022 Harry S. Truman Book Award. To inquire about submission, contact Lisa Sullivan at Lisa.Sullivan@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org or 816.400.1216.

2020 HARRY S. TRUMAN BOOK AWARD

The Truman Library Institute has awarded Derek Leebaert the 2020 Harry S. Truman Book Award for Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945-1957. Leebaert leads a global management consulting firm and is author of several award-winning books, including Magic and Mayhem: The Delusions of American Foreign Policy and To Dare and to Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations.

RECENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

2020      Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945-1957 by Derek Leebaert

2018       A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman, and the Birth of Modern China, 1949 by Kevin Peraino

2016       Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe by Michael Neiberg

2014       Henry Wallace’s 1948 Presidential Campaign and the Future of Postwar Liberalism by Thomas W. Devine

2012       The War for Korea, 1950-1951: They Came from the North by Allan R. Millett

2010       Selling the Korean War: Propaganda, Politics, and Public Opinion in the United States, 1950-1953 by Steven Casey

2008       From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War by Wilson D. Miscamble

2006       The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis

2004       Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations by Stephen C. Schlesinger

2002       The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968 by Kari Frederickson

2000       Downfall: The End of the Japanese Empire by Richard B. Frank

See all recipients since 1967 here.

Contact

Lisa Sullivan, Book Award Administrator
Lisa.Sullivan@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org
816.400.1216