A new award from McMaster to support books about Canadian history will certainly be appreciated by its winners. Equally impressive is the number of publications that the Dundurn Press has helped bring us over the years. Here is the news release from the McMaster website:

McMaster awards Wilson Prize to Dundurn Press

October 27, 2010

The Wilson Institute for Canadian History at McMaster University has awarded Dundurn Press its inaugural prize of $10,000 to support the publication of books devoted to Canadian history.

The Wilson Prize will be officially presented on October 27 during an evening reception at the University.

Dundurn Press is being recognized for its long and distinguished career of publishing popular works of Canadian history.

Founded in 1972 by Kirk Howard, the Dundurn Press has published a distinguished collection of biographies, natural histories, art histories, and books about Canadian military, political, and social history. Its list of more than 1,650 titles has reaped numerous awards for its authors such as the Governor General’s Award, the Toronto Book Award, the City of Ottawa Award, and the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography.

The Wilson Prize is named after L.R. (Red) Wilson, a major supporter of Canadian history through Historica, which he co-founded. He also funded the Wilson Institute for Canadian History and the L.R. Wilson Chair in Canadian History. Wilson is the Chancellor of McMaster University.