King Willem III bio wins top history prize

Dik van der Meulen won the Libris History Prize 2014 for his biography Koning Willem III 1817-1890. The award goes together with a 20 thousand euro cash prize. The jury praised Van der Meulen for his catchy, ironic writing style. "The life of his main character reads almost like a novel. The darker side of Willem III is discussed at length, but the author never loses sight of the flip side. So this king remains a human being and this fascinating book is in a sense a vindication of the man known as 'King Gorilla'." Van der Meulen's book beat as many as 348 other historical entries. Eventually there were 5 nominees for the history prize, which honors books that have an original subject and type, are written so that they are pleasant to read, and are based on solid historical research.