LSU History Professors Win Awards for Recently Published Books
3/26/21
Suzanne L. Marchand, Boyd Professor, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean, Fred C. Frey Professor and chair of the LSU Department of History both won awards for their recently published books.
Marchand’s book, Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe, won the Ralph Gomory Prize from The Business History Conference and Sheehan-Dean’s three-volume publication, The Cambridge History of the American Civil War, received the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Military History.
Porcelain weaves together the experience of entrepreneurs and artisans, state bureaucrats and
female consumers, chemists and peddlers, as it traces the remarkable story of “white
gold.” The book tells the story of porcelain’s transformation from coveted luxury
to household necessity and flea market staple and offers a fascinating alternative
history of art, business, taste, and consumption in Central Europe.
The Ralph Gomory prize is made possible by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and is awarded
annually by The Business History Conference. The award recognizes historical work
on the effects of business enterprises on the economic conditions of the countries
in which they operate.
Sheehan-Dean’s The Cambridge History of the American Civil War provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the American Civil War. With
contributions from over seventy-five historians of the Civil War, the reference work
investigates the full range of human experiences and outcomes in the most transformative
moment in American and global history.
The Distinguished Book Award is awarded annually each spring from the Society for
Military History and recognizes the best book-length publications in English on military
history.
Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe was published in June 2020 through the Princeton University Press. Marchand’s previous
books include German Orientalism in the Age of Empire: Religion, Race and Scholarship and Down from Olympus: Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany.
The Cambridge History of the American Civil War was published in October 2019 through the Cambridge University Press. Sheehan-Dean’s
previous books include The Calculus of Violence: How the Americans Fought the Civil War, The Civil War: The Final Year Told by Those Who Lived It, and Why Confederates Fought: Family and Nation in Civil War in Virginia.