The 2012 Winner Is John Fonte!
ISI is pleased to announce the 2012 Henry Paolucci/Walter Bagehot Book Award winner is John Fonte for his book, book Sovereignty or Submission: Will Americans Rule Themselves or be Ruled by Others? (Encounter Books)
John Fonte will accept the award and give a public lecture on Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. at the University and Whist Club, 805 North Broom Street, Wilmington, DE 19806.
John Fonte is a Senior Fellow and Director of Hudson's Center for American Common Culture. His book, Sovereignty or Submission, is a number-one rated Amazon best-seller in international law. His ideas on "lawfare" were cited in the annual New York Times Magazine's "Year in Ideas" as among the most noteworthy of 2004.
The Award
The ISI Henry Paolucci/Walter Bagehot Book Award recognizes and advances the considerable scholarly and journalistic achievements of Henry Paolucci and Walter Bagehot by honoring each year one book that embodies the humane and liberal spirit of these two men of letters. Their achievements will be long remembered by those who had the privilege of hearing them lecture or who have had the opportunity to read one of their many books, articles, or speeches. Through their scholarly work, their tireless pursuit of academic, literary, and journalist excellence, and their political and moral commitments, Paolucci and Bagehot exemplify ISI's ideal of the public intellectual. This award recalls and proclaims their example to all who aspire to the intellectual life.
This prestigious award was launched in the mid-sixties by the Walter Bagehot Research Council. Since 2004, the annual award has been presented by ISI to a deserving scholar whose intellectual achievement—as made manifest in the form of a book published in the previous year-embodies the spirit, range, and scholarly rigor of the award's namesakes. The amount of the award is $5,000.
Selection Process
Nominations from individuals and publishing houses are hereby solicited for the Henry Paolucci/Walter Bagehot Book Award. Submissions should embody impeccable scholarship and a respect for the historical continuity of the subject. They should also avoid factional or partisan argument and contribute in a significant way to the literature of the subject. Particular attention will be given to works that focus on American domestic or foreign policy, constitutional law, jurisprudence, and American history. Books in other areas of the humanities will also be considered, including the following:
- political science (especially political philosophy)
- higher education in the United States
- English literature and comparative literature (nonfiction only)
- intellectual history
- the future of the humanities
- history
- philosophy
- history of science
Nominated books should display a cross- or interdisciplinary approach to their subjects. They should also bring first principles to bear on important academic, political, or cultural concerns. The book deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the advancement of a true partnership between the mind and soul, or to the explication of the essential unity between man's rational and spiritual natures, will be honored.
The selection committee will include two members of the Walter Bagehot Research Council on National Sovereignty; the president of Griffon House publications; and three senior members of ISI’s team.
Nomination deadline: May 15
Award finalists will be announced on or around August 15. The winner of the Henry Paolucci/Walter Bagehot Book Award will be announced on or around August 30.
Awardee's Lecture and Reception
The winner will be asked to give a public lecture in Wilmington, Delaware, in early November. The lecture and award ceremony will be followed by a reception.