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Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

Award administered by the Trustees of the Walter Scott Prize, founded under the patronage of the Duke of Buccleuch at Abbotsford

An annual British literary prize awarded for the best historical novel published in the UK, Ireland or Commonwealth, named after Sir Walter Scott, regarded as the father of the historical novel genre.

Latest winner · 2026

Search through 7,609 books

2026

  1. The Matchbox Girl

    Alice Jolly

    Won
  2. Benbecula

    Graeme Macrae Burnet

    Shortlisted
  3. Once the Deed Is Done

    Rachel Seiffert

    Shortlisted
  4. Seascraper

    Benjamin Wood

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  5. The Pretender

    Jo Harkin

    Shortlisted

2025

  1. The Land in Winter

    Andrew Miller

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Won
  2. Glorious Exploits

    Ferdia Lennon

    Shortlisted
  3. The Book of Days

    Francesca Kay

    Shortlisted
  4. The Heart in Winter

    Kevin Barry

    Shortlisted

  5. The Mare

    Angharad Hampshire

    Shortlisted
  6. The Safekeep

    Yael van der Wouden

    Won 1 more award · Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted

2024

  1. Hungry Ghosts

    Kevin Jared Hosein

    Won

  2. Absolutely and Forever

    Rose Tremain

    Shortlisted
  3. In the Upper Country

    Kai Thomas

    Shortlisted
  4. My Father's House

    Joseph O'Connor

    Shortlisted
  5. The House of Doors

    Tan Twan Eng

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  6. The New Life

    Tom Crewe

    Won 1 more award

    Shortlisted

2023

  1. These Days

    Lucy Caldwell

    Won
  2. Act of Oblivion

    Robert Harris

    Shortlisted
  3. Ancestry

    Simon Mawer

    Shortlisted

  4. I Am Not Your Eve

    Devika Ponnambalam

    Shortlisted

  5. The Chosen

    Elizabeth Lowry

    Shortlisted

  6. The Geometer Lobochevsky

    Adrian Duncan

    Shortlisted
  7. The Sun Walks Down

    Fiona McFarlane

    Shortlisted

2022

  1. News of the Dead

    James Robertson

    Won
  2. Fortune

    Amanda Smyth

    Shortlisted
  3. Rose Nicholson

    Andrew Greig

    Shortlisted
  4. The Magician

    Colm Tóibín

    Won 1 more award

    Shortlisted

2021

  1. The Mirror & the Light

    Hilary Mantel

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Won
  2. A Room Made of Leaves

    Kate Grenville

    Shortlisted
  3. Hamnet

    Maggie O'Farrell

    Won 2 more awards

    Shortlisted
  4. The Dictionary of Lost Words

    Pip Williams

    Shortlisted
  5. The Tolstoy Estate

    Steven Conte

    Shortlisted

2018

  1. The Gallows Pole

    Ben Myers

    Won
  2. Grace

    Paul Lynch

    Shortlisted
  3. Manhattan Beach

    Jennifer Egan

    Won 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  4. Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves

    Rachel Malik

    Shortlisted
  5. Sugar Money

    Jane Harris

    Shortlisted
  6. The Wardrobe Mistress

    Patrick McGrath

    Shortlisted

2017

  1. Days without End

    Sebastian Barry

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Won
  2. A Country Road, a Tree

    Jo Baker

    Shortlisted
  3. Golden Hill

    Francis Spufford

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  4. Mothering Sunday

    Graham Swift

    Shortlisted
  5. The Good People

    Hannah Kent

    Shortlisted
  6. The Gustav Sonata

    Rose Tremain

    Shortlisted
  7. The Vanishing Futurist

    Charlotte Hobson

    Shortlisted

2016

  1. Tightrope

    Simon Mawer

    Won
  2. A Place Called Winter

    Patrick Gale

    Shortlisted
  3. End Games in Bordeaux

    Allan Massie

    Shortlisted
  4. Mrs Engels

    Gavin McCrea

    Shortlisted

  5. Salt Creek

    Lucy Treloar

    Shortlisted
  6. Sweet Caress

    William Boyd

    Shortlisted

2015

  1. The Ten Thousand Things

    John Spurling

    Won
  2. A God in Every Stone

    Kamila Shamsie

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  3. Arctic Summer

    Damon Galgut

    Shortlisted
  4. In the Wolf's Mouth

    Adam Foulds

    Shortlisted
  5. The Lie

    Helen Dunmore

    Shortlisted
  6. The Zone of Interest

    Martin Amis

    Shortlisted
  7. Viper Wine

    Hermione Eyre

    Shortlisted

2014

  1. An Officer and a Spy

    Robert Harris

    Won 1 more award

    Won
  2. Fair Helen

    Andrew Greig

    Shortlisted
  3. Harvest

    Jim Crace

    Won 2 more awards · Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  4. Life After Life

    Kate Atkinson

    Nominated for 2 more awards

    Shortlisted
  5. The Luminaries

    Eleanor Catton

    Won 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  6. The Promise

    Ann Weisgarber

    Shortlisted

2013

  1. The Garden of Evening Mists

    Tan Twan Eng

    Nominated for 2 more awards

    Won
  2. Bring Up the Bodies

    Hilary Mantel

    Won 1 more award · Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  3. Merivel: A Man of His Time

    Rose Tremain

    Shortlisted
  4. The Daughters of Mars

    Thomas Keneally

    Shortlisted
  5. The Streets

    Anthony Quinn

    Shortlisted
  6. Toby's Room

    Pat Barker

    Shortlisted

2012

  1. On Canaan's Side

    Sebastian Barry

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Won
  2. Half-Blood Blues

    Esi Edugyan

    Won 1 more award · Nominated for 2 more awards

    Shortlisted
  3. Pure

    Andrew Miller

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  4. The Quality of Mercy

    Barry Unsworth

    Shortlisted
  5. The Sisters Brothers

    Patrick deWitt

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  6. The Stranger's Child

    Alan Hollinghurst

    Nominated for 2 more awards

    Shortlisted

2011

  1. The Long Song

    Andrea Levy

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Won
  2. C

    Tom McCarthy

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  3. Ghost Light

    Joseph O'Connor

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  4. Heartstone

    C. J. Sansom

    Shortlisted
  5. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

    David Mitchell

    Nominated for 2 more awards

    Shortlisted
  6. To Kill a Tsar

    Andrew Williams

    Shortlisted

2010

  1. Wolf Hall

    Hilary Mantel

    Won 2 more awards · Nominated for 1 more award

    Won
  2. Hodd

    Adam Thorpe

    Shortlisted
  3. Lustrum

    Robert Harris

    Shortlisted
  4. Sacred Hearts

    Sarah Dunant

    Shortlisted
  5. Stone's Fall

    Iain Pears

    Shortlisted
  6. The Glass Room

    Simon Mawer

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted
  7. The Quickening Maze

    Adam Foulds

    Nominated for 1 more award

    Shortlisted

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2026?
“The Matchbox Girl” by Alice Jolly won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2026.
Who are the most recent Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction winners?
2026: “The Matchbox Girl” by Alice Jolly; 2025: “The Land in Winter” by Andrew Miller; 2024: “Hungry Ghosts” by Kevin Jared Hosein; 2023: “These Days” by Lucy Caldwell; 2022: “News of the Dead” by James Robertson.
Has anyone won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction more than once?
Yes - 2 authors have: Hilary Mantel (2010, 2021); Sebastian Barry (2012, 2017).