Author who wrote about his German family's war history to be given a prize for the book

Bas von Benda-Beckmann, a historian and author, will receive the Libris Geschiedenis Prijs for his book Het kleedje voor Hitler: Een Familiegeschiedenis. This was announced on Sunday by the chair of the jury, Gerdi Verbeet, during a special live episode of the NPO-1 radio show OVT.

Von Benda-Beckmann writes in the book about the war history of his German family in the 19th and 20th centuries. The jury called it a “pageturner in which the author uses a great wealth of surprising sources."

A prize of 20,000 euro is given to the winner of the Libris Geschiedenis Prijs. It is given annually to the author of a historical book, which is also an easy read, original, and based on sound historical research.

The other four nominees from this year’s shortlist: Jaap Cohen (De bolle Gogh), Michal Citroen (Een adres), Benjamin Duerr (De droom van Den Haag), and Rick Honings (De ontdekking van Insulinde), will each receive 1,500 euros.

Martin Bossenbroek received the award last year for his book De Zanzibardriehoek.