Alexander Lee is a Finalist for the 2026 Cundill History Prize with The First Ghetto

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Alexander Lee has been selected as one of three finalists for the 2026 Cundill History Prize with his book, The First Ghetto: Venice and the Jews!

Emily Greenwood (Harvard University), Chair of the Jury, said: "John Doe Chinaman and The First Ghetto analyse conditional inclusion as a form of social control—of the Chinese in the American West and the Jews in Venice—in all its cruel unpredictability. Alexander Lee’s The First Ghetto foregrounds the stories of the Ghetto’s Jewish inhabitants, enabling readers to understand the significance of the Venice Ghetto as both a flourishing Jewish stronghold and a vulnerable enclosure over a five-hundred-year history."

The First Ghetto was published by Picador on 5th March 2026.

The Cundill History Prize, administered by McGill University, is one of the world’s leading prizes for a work of history written in, or translated into, English. The winner will be announced at the Cundill Festival in Montreal on 23rd October. You can read more about the finalists here.