High school history book prize 2025: registrations end on December 10!

Faithful to its objective of promoting our disciplines, our association officially supports the High School History Book Prize this year. Congratulations to colleagues, organizers and patrons for this great competition! This award combines several qualities. Of course, it gives the taste of history, reinforces it, but it also opens up research. And, from start to finish, the students are in charge, until the prize is awarded to the winner in Blois.

The Price

Created in 2020 on the initiative of a group of high school history teachers, preparatory classes for major schools and universities, The High School History Book Prize begins its 6th edition this year.

This prize aims to reward a history book for its scientific qualities, for its readability and its accessibility (in particular by a reasonable number of pages, around 300). Its aim is to introduce historical research to young readers such as high school students, thus contributing to the human, intellectual and civic training of students. In addition to having the aim of awakening and reinforcing the pleasure of reading history books among high school students, this prize aims to contribute to the development of analytical and oral skills, in particular through dialogue between high school students and CPGE students through regional deliberations and a national deliberation.

The High School History Book Prize is one of the prizes awarded at the Rendez-Vous de l'Histoire in Blois in October each year.

The selection

The five works in competition for the High School History Book Prize are selected by a Selection committee made up of secondary school and preparatory class teachers, academics, a bookseller, the head of educational activities for the Rendez-vous de l'histoire, the head of the Blois History Book Fair and a member of the journal's editorial staff Historypartner of the Prize.

The selection is made from history books published during the preceding school year. The Committee favors work giving a ample room for research and preserves a certain balance between historical periods. Finally, it includes, as far as possible, a work resulting from non-French-speaking research translated into French. He also takes care to choose certain books in line with teaching programs. Teachers who involve their students undertake to support them in reading the five works.

The selection was revealed at the end of the 28th Rendez-vous de l’histoire:

How do we work in class?

Participation in the High School History Book Prize is open to all high school students from establishments under the supervision of the General Inspectorate, whether public, private under contract, general, technological, professional, agricultural, military or French high schools. from abroad. Students from first and second year preparatory classes are also eligible to participate.

During the school year between February and June, the Committee organizes remote meetings filmed with the five selected historians, answering questions from students from certain voluntary establishments.

How is the winner chosen?

The participating establishments are grouped into regional juries for which they send two students, responsible for defending one or two works from the selection. The juries deliberate at the beginning of September, by videoconference; then vote. The three works having obtained the most points are qualified for the national jury.

The national jury meets one week after the regional deliberations, also on a videoconference platform. It is made up of student delegates from regional juries.

The Prize presentation takes place during the edition of the Rendez-vous de l'histoire, on Saturday in the middle of the afternoon, in the presence of the partners who support the Prize. It is run by the students who are present in Blois, hosted by the Rendez-vous de l'histoire according to arrangements currently being developed.

The winners of the five previous editions