Dr Ben Weider, President of the International Napoleonic Society, and Donald D.Horward, Chair of the 1996 Literary Committee, have recently announced the 1996 Literary Awards. A total of twenty excellent volumes were submitted to the 1996 Literary Committee for the annual prize being judged by the Committee composed of David Chandler, Philip Haythornthwaite, Robert Holtmann, J.David Markham, Jeanne Ojala, John Severn and Donald D. Horward. The following prizes have been awarded:

FIRST PRIZE of $2,500 is awarded to John L. Tone for his volume The Fatal Knot: The Guerrilla War in Navarre and the Defeat of Napoleon, published by the University of North Carolina, USA.

SECOND PRIZE of $1,500 is awarded to Paul Britten Austin for his volume 1812: The Great Retreat, published by Greenhill Books.

The President's Choice: The Golden Laurel Award has been established to give special recognition to one book each year that has made a unique contribution to the field of Napoleonic studies. This recognition will include a certificate and a cheque for US $1,500. This year's Golden Laurel Award goes to One Leg: The Life and Letters of Henry William Paget, First Marquess of Anglesey, KG 1768-1854 (London: Leo Cooper 1996). First published in 1961, this book was written by the seventh Marquess of Anglesey. Of particular interest is the first person account of the battle of Waterloo, including the incident where Paget (Lord Uxbridge) lost his leg. One Leg is also important for its extensive use of letters and other unpublished material not generally available to scholars.

The Graduate Student Literary Awards are for the two best published articles written by graduate students. The prizes are $500 each and have been awarded to:

Margaret Chrisawn for her article A Military Bull in a Diplomatic China Shop: General Jean Lannes in Lisbon, 1802-04, published in the Portuguese Review.

Everett Dague, for his article Henri Clarke, Minister of War, and the Malet Conspiracy, published in Selected Papers, 1995, Consortium on Revolutionary Europe.

Each of these publications has met the rigorous criteria established by the Literary Committee, and represent a significant contribution to the study of the Napoleonic period as exemplified by the quality of research, originality, style and judgement. Congratulations are due to each of these scholars on their commitment and achievement.

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