UK (Commonwealth Union)_ Sunil Amrith, an Indian-origin historian, has won the 2025 British Academy Book Prize for his acclaimed work, The Burning Earth: An Environmental History of the Past 500 Years. The £25,000 prize acknowledges outstanding non-fiction in the humanities and social sciences, celebrating books that improve public understanding of urgent global challenges through meticulous research and compelling storytelling. Amrith’s latest book has received widespread acclaim for its ambitious breadth and pertinent examination of humanity’s relationship with the environment. Amrith, a history professor at Yale University, was born in Kenya to South Indian parents, raised in Singapore, and attended the University of Cambridge in England. At 46, he has established himself as a key figure in world environmental and migration history. His previous accolades include the 2017 MacArthur Fellowship, often called the “Genius Grant,” reflecting his ability to combine historical scholarship with contemporary relevance.
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The Burning Earth was described by the judging panel as “essential reading” in the context of the climate crisis. The award was presented at a ceremony at the British Academy in London on Wednesday evening. Professor Rebecca Earle, a UK-based historian and chair of the judging panel, praised Amrith’s work as a “magisterial account” of the ways human history and environmental change are intertwined. “It is vivid in detail and beautifully written,” Earle said. “Anyone trying to understand the roots of today’s climate crisis will find this book invaluable. Amrith’s scholarship shows clearly that human development and environmental transformation cannot be separated—they shape one another in profound ways.”
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Amrith’s research was praised by the British Academy for its global viewpoint. His research spans centuries of environmental change and human activity across continents, focusing on the ecological consequences of colonialism, industrialization, and shifting settlement patterns. The Burning Earth offers a fresh look at how our world came to be by linking historical events to current environmental challenges. Amrith’s book spans five centuries and covers a wide range of historical events and themes, including the conquest of the Americas and its ecological consequences, British gold mining in South Africa, the environmental impact of world wars, and the long-term effects of colonial extraction and industrial growth. Through these narratives, he shows how human activity has consistently impacted the earth, often with long-term and unanticipated consequences.
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The other shortlisted books, which each receive £1,000, included The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple; The Baton and The Cross: Russia’s Church from Pagans to Putin by Lucy Ash; Africonomics: A History of Western Ignorance by Bronwen Everill; Sick of It: The Global Fight for Women’s Health by Sophie Harman; and Sound Tracks: A Musical Detective Story by Graeme Lawson. The British Academy praised The Burning Earth for “reframing history through an ecological lens,” highlighting how environmental change and human activity have been deeply interconnected throughout modern history.
Established in 2013, the British Academy Book Prize seeks to reward non-fiction that is grounded in rigorous research while remaining accessible to a broader audience, promoting scholarship that engages with societal issues. Previous winners of the award include Patrick Wright and Kapka Kassabova, both known for their ability to integrate extensive research into gripping storytelling. Books qualifying for the award must be non-fiction works published in the United Kingdom, and authors from any nationality or background may be considered as long as the book is available in English. Sunil Amrith’s The Burning Earth is not only a unique historical study, but it also provides readers with a strong lens through which to grasp today’s environmental concerns and the complicated human decisions that caused them. The honor confirms his place as one of the leading historians studying the interaction of environment, empire, and society.
