Awards
See our most recent award-winning and shortlisted books in the carousel below, or see all awards below.
Browse awards by year:
BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize (shortlisted)
The Politics of Intersectional Practice by Ashlee Chrisoffersen and Embodying Irish Abortion Reform by Aideen O’Shaughnessy have been shortlisted for the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize which is awarded to the best first sole-authored book within the discpline of sociology.
Australian Business Book Awards - Technology 2024 (Winner)
Marek Kowalkiewicz, The Economy of Algorithms
The Australian Business Book Awards recognise entrepreneurs, businesspeople and business owners who have written and published a book demonstrating their skill, knowledge and experience in their industry. These books allow authors to share their wisdom with current and potential clients, colleagues, and the general public.
Society for Educational Studies Book Awards
A Political Sociology of Education Policy by Helen Gunter won the 2024 book award and Schooling Inequality by Jessie Abrahams won the 2024 Debut Book Award. Find out more.
Academics Stand Against Poverty Book of the Year 2024 (winner)
Olivier De Schutter, Hugh Frazer, Anne-Catherine Guio, Eric Marlier, The Escape from Poverty
Books published in 2024 that contribute meaningfully to understanding, describing, explaining, or addressing poverty. We seek works that go beyond mere description, scholarship that offers actionable insights and potential pathways to meaningful change.
CIMUSET Special Recognition Award (Winner)
Elizabeth Rasekoala, Race and Sociocultural Inclusion in Science Communication
"Deserves special recognition from the CIMUSET Award committee for its groundbreaking and comprehensive approach to addressing the multifaceted issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the science communication field and thereby for science museums and science centres." Find out more.
British Society of Criminology Book Award (Winner)
Kate Herrity, Sound, Order and Survival: The Rhythms and Routines of HMP Midtown
The British Society of Criminology Book Award is given to distinctive or innovative publications that make a valuable contribution to the further development of criminology.
Richard Titmuss Book Award 2024 (Winner)
Sharon Wright, Women and Welfare Conditionality
The Richard Titmuss book award ecognises general contribution to the advancement of the understanding of social policy through the publication of scholarly works.
Independent Publishers' Guild Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year 2024 (Winner)
We are thrilled to announce that Bristol University Press has won the Independent Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year for 2024 award. This achievement is a testament to our dedication to excellence, innovation and diversity in publishing. Find out more.
The Bookseller's Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year 2024 (shortlisted)
Choice Outstanding Academic Title in Economics 2023
Hannes Gerhardt , From Capital to Commons
This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles, both print and digital, reviewed by Choice during the previous year and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.
Hart–SLSA Book Prize 2023 (shortlisted)
Lucy Series, Deprivation of Liberty in the Shadows of the Institution
The Hart-SLSA book prize is open to all, for the most outstanding piece of socio-legal scholarship published in the 12 months up to 30 September preceding the closing date for nominations.
SLSA Socio-Legal Theory and History Prize 2023 (shortlisted)
Lucy Series, Deprivation of Liberty in the Shadows of the Institution
The SLSA Socio-Legal Theory and History Prize is open to all, for a book that makes a contribution to socio-legal theory or to socio-legal history published in the 12 months up to 30 September preceding the closing date for nominations.
Business Book Awards - Diversity, inclusion and equality 2023 (shortlisted)
Louise Ashley, Highly Discriminating: Why the City Isn’t Fair and Diversity Doesn’t Work
The Business Book Award for Diversity, inclusion and equality is awarded to books that promote the importance of diversity, inclusion and equality in business and beyond.
Business Book Awards - Change & sustainability 2023 (shortlisted)
Ian Thomson and Dominic Bates, Urgent Business: Five Myths Business Needs to Overcome to Save Itself and the Planet
The Business Book Award for change and sustainability is awarded to books that explore how technology, innovation or best practice can improve business or the environment.
The Richard Titmuss Book Award 2023 (winner)
Ruth Patrick, Maddy Power, Kayleigh Garthwaite, Jim Kaufman, Geoff Page and Katie Pybus, A Year Like No Other: Life on a Low Income during COVID-19
The Richard Titmuss book award ecognises general contribution to the advancement of the understanding of social policy through the publication of scholarly works.
The Richard Titmuss Book Award 2023 (shortlisted)
Ruby Chau and Sam Yu, Women, Welfare and Productivism in East Asia and Europe
The Richard Titmuss book award ecognises general contribution to the advancement of the understanding of social policy through the publication of scholarly works.
The Richard Titmuss Book Award 2023 (shortlisted)
Maddy Power, Hunger, Whiteness and Religion in Neoliberal Britain: An Inequality of Power
The Richard Titmuss book award ecognises general contribution to the advancement of the understanding of social policy through the publication of scholarly works.
Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness Book Prize 2023 (shortlisted)
Baptiste Brossard and Amy Chandler, Explaining Mental Illness: Sociological Perspectives
The Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness (FSHI) Book Prize is awarded annually each September to the author(s) or editor(s) of the book making the most significant contribution to medical sociology/sociology of health and illness and having been published over the three years preceding 1st January of the year in which the award is made.
EASST Chris Freeman Award 2022
Stevienna de Saille et al., Responsibility Beyond Growth: A Case for Responsible Stagnation
The EASST Chris Freeman Award is given to publications that are making a significant collective contribution to the interaction of science and technology studies with other disciplines or areas of study. Find out more.
The Cheryl Frank Memorial Prize 2022
Priscilla Alderson, Critical Realism for Health and Illness Research: A Practical Introduction
The Cheryl Frank Memorial Prize is awarded annually for a book that constitutes, motivates or exemplifies the best and/or most innovative writing in or about the tradition of critical realism, published in the previous year. Find out more.
Social Policy Association Richard Titmuss Book Award 2022
Clare Bambra, Katherine Smith and Julia Lynch, The Unequal Pandemic
The Richard Titmuss Book Award recognises general contribution to the advancement of the understanding of social policy through the publication of scholarly works. Books by those in the early stages of their careers are particularly welcomed. Find out more.
UAA Best Book in Urban Affairs 2022
Timothy J. Dixon and Mark Tewdwr-Jones, Urban Futures: Planning for City Foresight and City Visions
The UAA Best Book in Urban Affairs encourages high-quality research on urban issues and rewards cogent writing on urban affairs. Find out more.
Book Industry Communication(BIC) Basic Award with ONIX 3.0 Badge and Digital Tick 2022
A BIC Product Data Excellence Award for the provision of accurate and timely product information. BIC facilitates UK & Global book industry wide collaboration to reach agreement on dependable standards in the supply chain. Find out more.
2021 Division of Policing Outstanding Book Award
Ross Deuchar, Vaughn Crichlow and Seth Fallik, Police–Community Relations in Times of Crisis: Decay and Reform in the Post-Ferguson Era
The Outstanding Book in Policing Award recognizes a monograph (not a textbook, anthology, oredited volume) published in the last three calendar years. The award honors a text that deserves recognition due to its significant empirical,theoretical, or policy-relevant contributions to the field. Find out more
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (longlisted)
Eben Kirksey, The Mutant Project: Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans
The Baillie Gifford Prize rewards excellence in non-fiction writing, bringing the best in intelligent reflection on the world to new readers. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. Find out more
British Academy Peter Townsend Prize Winner 2021
John Stewart, Richard Titmuss: A Commitment to Welfare
The Peter Townsend Prize is awarded biennially for outstanding work with policy relevance on a topic to which Townsend made a major contribution. Find out more
GSA Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award 2021
Sandra Torres, Ethnicity and Old Age
This award recognizes insightful and innovative publications on aging and life course development in the behavioral and social sciences in two categories: (1) Book Category and (2) Article Category. Find out more
BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize Awards 2021 (shortlisted)
Vicki Dabrowski, Austerity, Women and the Role of the State and Patricia Hamilton, Black Mothers and Attachment Parenting
The BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize is for the best first and sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology. Find out more
Society for Social Work and Research 2021 Book Award
Michal Krumer-Nevo, Radical Hope
The Society for Social and Work Research (SSWR) Book Award is awarded every year and seeks to recognize outstanding social work contributions that advance knowledge with direct applications to practice, policy, and the resolution of social problems.
Bertha Lutz Award 2020
Torild Skard, author of Women of Power, was awarded the Bertha Lutz Award for research on women in diplomacy, jointly presented by the ISA and the SOAS centre for diplomacy.
Independent Publishers Guild Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year 2020 (shortlisted) and the Independent Publishers Guild Marketing Award 2020 (shortlisted)
Find out more about the IPG awards here.
University Press Redux Sustainability Award 2020 (shortlisted)
Web Marketing Association Best Publishing Website Award 2019
BIC Product Data Excellence Award 2019
We are pleased to announce that we have achieved the BIC Basic award with a Digital Tick.
ASPIRE Accessibility Awards 2019
We are proud to receive Highly Commended in the ASPIRE Accessibility Awards 2019, awarded by JISC.
The Working-class Studies Association Jake Ryan Book Award 2018 winner
Diane Reay, Miseducation: Inequality, education and the working classes
This new award has been created by the Working-class Studies Association to honour a publication from the previous two years that speaks to issues of importance to the working-class academic experience.
Skystone Partners Prize for Research on Fundraising and Philanthropy Winner 2018
Beth Breeze, The new fundraisers: Who organises charitable giving in contemporary society?
Each year, the AFP Research Council awards the Skystone Partners Prize for Research to the author of a book that contributes substantially to the knowledge and understanding of fundraising or philanthropic behavior.
Choice Outstanding Academic Title Winner January 2018
Shirley Hill, Inequality and African-American Health
Every year Choice publishes a list of Outstanding Academic Titles reviewed during the previous calendar year. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice and contains approximately ten percent of some 6,000 works reviewed each year.
The Bookseller top 100 most influential people in the book trade 2017
Alison Shaw, Policy Press and Bristol University Press CEO.
‘I am absolutely thrilled that the development of Bristol University Press has been recognised in this way. To be included alongside the leading names in the industry is somewhat overwhelming. Our job now is to deliver on the great potential of the Press’.
An annual list produced by the industry magazine The Bookseller recognizing influence and leadership across a wide range of publishers, retailers, authors and members of the media. Shaw was one of only eight scholarly publishers on the list and Bristol is the only University Press outside of Oxford and Cambridge to have been included.
British Academy Peter Townsend Prize Winner 2017
Kayleigh Garthwaite, Hunger pains: Life inside foodbank Britain
This prize is awarded biennially for outstanding work with policy relevance on a topic to which Townsend made a major contribution.
IPG Awards 2016
Frankfurt Book Fair Academic & Professional Publisher of the Year
The judges said: "Policy Press had a standout year in 2015, publishing a range of important, influential and well-reviewed books, experimenting with activities including short reads, apps and freemium content and hitting record turnover. It has increased sales and stepped up its publishing in a difficult market, and that takes a lot of nerve. It really punches above its weight."
The British Book Industry Awards
Shortlisted for the Bookseller Academic, Educational & Professional Publisher of the Year 2016
This award is for those who specialise in academic, educational or professional publishing; or specialist divisions within larger publishers.
2015 British Academy Peter Townsend Prize
Why we can’t afford the rich by Andrew Sayer.
Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2015 award
Women of power by Torild Skard.
BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2014
Negotiating cohesion, inequality and change by Hannah Jones.
Socio-legal Studies Association prize 2014
Alcohol and moral regulation by Henry Yeomans.
British Academy Peter Townsend prize Winner 2013
Poverty and insecurity by Tracy Shildrick, Robert Macdonald, Colin Webster, Kayleigh Garthwaite.