Lawrence Freedman wins the Lionel Gelber Prize for Non-Fiction

Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of Britain’s most distinguished historians, has won'the 2009 Lionel Gelber Prize for his book A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East, published in Canada by Doubleday Canada.

Lawrence Freedman, image courtesy of Gelber Prize

Now in its 19th year, the $15,000 prize is presented by the Lionel Gelber Foundation in partnership with the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto and Foreign Policy magazine.

Lawrence Freedman will accept the award in Toronto on Tuesday March 31, 2009 at 6 p.m. at the Munk Centre where he will deliver the annual Lionel Gelber Lecture.

This Saturday, Olivia Ward, of the Toronto Star, reported on the five finalists.

The remaining shortlisted finalists were (click on any of the titles to place a request):

Bill Emmott for Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade

Misha Glenny for McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld

Ahmed Rashid for Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

Fareed Zakaria for The Post-American World