A rich tale of cultural exchange in the 17th century earned British historian Lisa Jardine $75,000 (U.S.) yesterday when she was named winner of the 2009 Cundill International Prize in History at McGill University in Montreal.
Jardine's Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory, re-examines events culminating in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when England claimed its destiny as a world power by welcoming a Dutch invasion and surrendering to the influence of Dutch art, science and horticulture.
Named for founder investment manager Peter Cundill, the award is the largest non-fiction historical literature prize in the world.