Alexander Lee's The First Ghetto shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize 2026

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Alexander Lee's The First Ghetto: Venice and the Jews has been shortlisted for the 2026 Cundill History Prize!

Emily Greenwood, Chair of the Jury, said that the eight shortlisted titles 'uncover histories that have been forgotten, silenced, or simply not intuited'. Administered by McGill University, the Cundill History Prize is the world’s leading award for history writing. The prize is awarded annually to the book that demonstrates excellence across the prize’s guiding criteria: craft, communication and consequence.

In The First Ghetto, Alexander Lee traces the vivid story from the first Jewish arrivals in the early fourteenth century to the present day, reconstructing the Ghetto through the eyes of its inhabitants – from the domestic squabbles of a sixteenth-century rabbi to the agonising wait of a family bound for Auschwitz. It was published by Picador on 5 March 2026.

You can read more about the shortlist here.