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Harvard professor Tiya Miles wins Cundill History Prize for 'All That She Carried'

MONTREAL — Harvard professor Tiya Miles's book about the history of an enslaved mother and her daughter has won this year's US$75,000 Cundill History Prize.
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Harvard professor Tiya Miles is seen in Montreal in a Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, handout photo. Miles’s book "All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake,” which traces the history of an enslaved mother and her daughter, has won this year's US$75,000 Cundill History Prize. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Cundill History Prize, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

MONTREAL — Harvard professor Tiya Miles's book about the history of an enslaved mother and her daughter has won this year's US$75,000 Cundill History Prize.

Miles received the honour for "All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake" at a gala in Montreal on Thursday evening. 

Miles beat out two other finalists: New York University professor Ada Ferrer, who was nominated for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Cuba: An American History," and Vladislav M. Zubok, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who wrote "Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union."

In a news release, jury chair J.R. McNeill praised Miles's book for its "clear and moving prose."

The prestigious award, which is run by McGill University, recognizes non-fiction history writing in English.

The two runners-up each received US$10,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2022.

The Canadian Press