Marc Raeff Prize
Past Recipients of the Raeff Book Prize
The 2026 Marc Raeff Book Prize
The Eighteenth-Century Russian Empire Studies Association, an affiliate organization of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), calls for submissions for the 2026 annual Marc Raeff Book Prize. We encourage both publishers and individual scholars to submit nominations to the members of the prize committee (listed below). Submissions should be made by June 30, 2026.
The Raeff Book Prize is awarded for a publication that is of exceptional merit and lasting significance for understanding the Russian Empire during the long 18th century. The recipient of the award will be recognized with a cash prize, which will be presented in November 2026 during the ASEEES annual convention in Chicago. The award is sponsored by the ECRESA and named in honor of Marc Raeff (1923-2008), historian, teacher, and dix-huitièmiste par excellence.
Please address all questions about the prize to Tilman Plath (Committee Chair) at platht@uni-greifswald.de
Submissions should be made (see Nominating Instructions below) by June 30, 2026.
Eligibility
- The publication must be a monograph (single author or multi-author), translation of primary sources, or reference work about any aspect of the long 18th century, on any of the territories of the former imperial Russian state. Textbooks, festschrifts, and edited collections of essays are not eligible.
- The submitted work must bear a copyright date of 2025 or 2026.
- Books that were already nominated for the prize in 2025 are not eligible.
- Nominated works may be published in English, Russian, French, or German and in any format (print or digital).
- The geographic area of study is broadly defined as the territories of the former imperial Russian state and the Soviet Union. The publication must deal in whole or in part with the long 18th century, though preference is given to books fully devoted to the period, defined here as the last quarter of the 17th century to the first quarter of the 19th century.
- Books that have received other prizes are eligible.
- Scholarly merit, originality, and felicity of style will be the main criteria for selection.
Nominating Instructions
- Any scholar in the field can nominate a book for the prize. Self-nominations are welcome.
- Nominations can be made by email to Tilman Plath, Committee Chair, or to any member of the ECRESA Prize Selection Committee (listed below).
- Publishers: if you nominate a book, please send a printed or an electronic copy to each ECRESA Prize Selection Committee member (addresses below).
- Nominations must be received no later than 30 June 2026.
- The award winner will be announced in mid-October 2026.
2026 ECRESA Prize Selection Committee
Prof. Alexander Martin
434 Decio Hall, Department of History
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA
(for digital copies/e-books - a.m.martin@nd.edu)
PD Dr. Tilman Plath (Committee Chair)
Universität Köln
Aachener Str.197-199
50923 Köln
Germany
(for digital copies/e-books - platht@uni-greifswald.de)
Prof. Vera Proskurina
3927 Oberlin Court
Tucker, GA 30084 USA
(for digital copies/e-books - vprosku@emory.edu)
Prof. Endre Sashalmi
13 Kincsesi str.
Kincsesbánya
Hungary-8044
(for digital copies/e-books - endresashalmi@gmail.com )
Prof. Dr. Iskra Schwarcz
Universität Wien
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 3
1090 Wien
Austria
(for digital copies/e-books - iskra.schwarcz@univie.ac.at)
Prof. Elise Wirtschafter
241 South Clark Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90211 USA
(for digital copies/e-books - ekwirtschafter@gmail.com)