Il premio Pulitzer per la storia (Pulitzer Prize for History) è un premio letterario assegnato annualmente dal 1917 nella categoria di arti e lettere, a un'opera che tratti in preferenza della storia statunitense. Tra le varie categorie in cui il Pulitzer viene assegnato, è uno dei premi originari. Dal 1980 vengono annunciati anche i finalisti.
Albo d'oro Il premio non è stato assegnato nel 1919, 1984 e 1994; assegnato due volte nel 1989. I vincitori sono indicati in grassetto, a seguire i finalisti.
Anni 1917-1919 1917: With Americans of Past and Present Days di Jean Jules Jusserand 1918: A History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 di James Ford Rhodes 1919: non assegnato
Anni 1920-1929 1920: The War with Mexico di Justin H. Smith 1921: The Victory at Sea di William Sowden Sims e Burton Hendrick 1922: The Founding of New England di James Truslow Adams 1923: The Supreme Court in United States History di Charles Warren 1924: The American Revolution: A Constitutional Interpretation di Charles Howard McIlwain 1925: History of the American Frontier di Frederic L. Paxson 1926: A History of the United States di Edward Channing 1927: Pinckney's Treaty di Samuel Flagg Bemis 1928: Main Currents in American Thought di Vernon Louis Parrington 1929: The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861–1865 di Fred Albert Shannon
Anni 1930-1939 1930: The War of Independence di Claude Van Tyne 1931: The Coming of the War, 1914 di Bernadotte E. Schmitt 1932: My Experiences in the World War di John J. Pershing 1933: The Significance of Sections in American History di Frederick J. Turner 1934: The People's Choice di Herbert Agar 1935: The Colonial Period of American History di Charles McLean Andrews 1936: A Constitutional History of the United States di Andrew McLaughlin 1937: The Flowering of New England, 1815–1865 di Van Wyck Brooks 1938: The Road to Reunion, 1865–1900 di Paul Herman Buck 1939: A History of American Magazines di Frank Luther Mott
Anni 1940-1949 1940: Abraham Lincoln: The War Years di Carl Sandburg 1941: The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860 di Marcus Lee Hansen 1942: Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865 di Margaret Leech 1943: Paul Revere and the World He Lived In di Esther Forbes 1944: The Growth of American Thought di Merle Curti 1945: Unfinished Business di Stephen Bonsal 1946: The Age of Jackson di Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. 1947: Scientists Against Time di James Phinney Baxter III 1948: Across the Wide Missouri di Bernard DeVoto 1949: The Disruption of American Democracy di Roy Franklin Nichols
Anni 1950-1959 1950: Art and Life in America di Oliver W. Larkin 1951: The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period 1815–1840 di R. Carlyle Buley 1952: The Uprooted di Oscar Handlin 1953: The Era of Good Feelings di George Dangerfield 1954: A Stillness at Appomattox di Bruce Catton 1955: Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History di Paul Horgan 1956: The Age of Reform di Richard Hofstadter 1957: Russia Leaves the War: Soviet-American Relations, 1917–1920 di George F. Kennan 1958: Banks and Politics in America di Bray Hammond 1959: The Republican Era: 1869–1901 di Leonard D. White e Jean Schneider
Anni 1960-1969 1960: In the Days of McKinley di Margaret Leech 1961: Between War and Peace: The Potsdam Conference di Herbert Feis 1962: The Triumphant Empire: Thunder-Clouds Gather in the West, 1763–1766 di Lawrence H. Gipson 1963: Washington, Village and Capital, 1800–1878 di Constance McLaughlin Green 1964: Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town di Sumner Chilton Powell 1965: The Greenback Era di Irwin Unger 1966: The Life of the Mind in America di Perry Miller 1967: Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West di William H. Goetzmann 1968: The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution di Bernard Bailyn 1969: Origins of the Fifth Amendment di Leonard W. Levy
Anni 1970-1979 1970: Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department di Dean Acheson 1971: Roosevelt: The Soldier Of Freedom di James MacGregor Burns 1972: Neither Black nor White di Carl N. Degler 1973: People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization di Michael Kammen 1974: The Americans: The Democratic Experience di Daniel J. Boorstin 1975: Jefferson and His Time di Dumas Malone 1976: Lamy of Santa Fe di Paul Horgan 1977: The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861 di David M. Potter (completato e pubblicato da Don E. Fehrenbacher) 1978: La mano visibile. La rivoluzione manageriale nell'economia americana (The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business) di Alfred D. Chandler Jr. 1979: The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics di Don E. Fehrenbacher
Anni 1980-1989 1980: Been in the Storm So Long di Leon F. Litwack The Plains Across di John B. Unruh The Urban Crucible di Gary B. Nash 1981: American Education: The National Experience, 1783–1876 di Lawrence A. Cremin A Search for Power: The 'Weaker Sex' in Seventeenth Century New England di Lyle Koehler Over Here: The First World War and American Society di David M. Kennedy 1982: Mary Chesnut's Civil War di C. Vann Woodward Power and Culture: The Japanese-American War, 1941–1945 di Akira Iriye White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American & South African History di George M. Fredrickson 1983: The Transformation of Virginia, 1740–1790 di Rhys L. Isaac Southern Honor: Ethics & Behavior in the Old South di Bertram Wyatt-Brown The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789 di Robert Middlekauff 1984: non assegnato 1985: Prophets of Regulation di Thomas K. McCraw The Crucible of Race di Joel Williamson The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians di Francis Paul Prucha 1986: ...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age di Walter A. McDougall Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America di Kerby A. Miller Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work and the Family from Slavery to the Present di Jacqueline Jones Novus Ordo Seclorum: the Intellectual Origins of the Constitution di Forrest McDonald 1987: Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution di Bernard Bailyn Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference di David Garrow Eisenhower: At War, 1943–1945 di David Eisenhower 1988: The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846–1876 di Robert V. Bruce The Care of Strangers: The Rise of America's Hospital System di Charles E. Rosenberg The Fall of the House of Labor di David Montgomery 1989: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era di James M. McPherson 1989: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–1963 di Taylor Branch Vietnam. Una sporca bugia (A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam) di Neil Sheehan Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 di Eric Foner
Anni 1990-1999 1990: In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines di Stanley Karnow American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm 1870–1970 di Thomas P. Hughes The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume IV: From the American Revolution to World War I di Hugh Honour 1991: A Midwife's Tale di Laurel Thatcher Ulrich America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink di Kenneth M. Stampp Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919–1939 di Lizabeth Cohen The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy di Hugh David Graham 1992: The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties di Mark E. Neely, Jr. A Very Thin Line: The Iran-Contra Affairs di Theodore Draper Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West di William Cronon Profits in the Wilderness: Entrepreneurship and the Founding of New England Towns in the Seventeenth Century di John Frederick Martin The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815 di Richard White 1993: The Radicalism of the American Revolution di Gordon S. Wood Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America di Garry Wills The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction di Edward L. Ayers 1994: non assegnato Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK di Gerald Posner Crime and Punishment in American History di Lawrence M. Friedman William Faulkner and Southern History di Joel Williamson 1995: No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II di Doris Kearns Goodwin Lincoln in American Memory di Merrill D. Peterson Stories of Scottsboro di James Goodman 1996: William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic di Alan Taylor Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb di Richard Rhodes The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic di Lance Banning 1997: Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution di Jack N. Rakove Founding Mothers and Fathers di Mary Beth Norton The Battle for Christmas di Stephen Nissenbaum 1998: Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion di Edward J. Larson Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America di J. Anthony Lukas Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History di Rogers Smith 1999: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 di Edwin G. Burrows e Mike Wallace In a Barren Land: American Indian Dispossession and Survival di Paula Mitchell Marks The New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age di William E. Burrows
Anni 2000-2009 2000: Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 di David M. Kennedy The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics and the Triumph of Anglo-America di Kevin Phillips Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier di James H. Merrell 2001: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation di Joseph J. Ellis The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States di Alexander Keyssar Way Out There in the Blue di Frances FitzGerald 2002: The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America di Louis Menand Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont, and the Sea Island Society in the Age of Segregation di J. William Harris Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America di Daniel K. Richter 2003: An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942–1943 di Rick Atkinson At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America di Philip Dray Rereading Sex: Battles Over Sexual Knowledge and Suppression in Nineteenth Century America di Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz 2004: A Nation Under Our Feet di Steven Hahn Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center di Daniel Okrent They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967 di David Maraniss 2005: Washington's Crossing di David Hackett Fischer Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age di Kevin Boyle Conjectures of Order: Intellectual Life and the American South, 1810-1860, volumes 1 & 2 di Michael O'Brien 2006: Polio: An American Story di David Oshinsky New York Burning di Jill Lepore The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln di Sean Wilentz 2007: The Race Beat di Gene Roberts e Hank Klibanoff Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War di Nathaniel Philbrick Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005 di James T. Campbell 2008: What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815–1848 di Daniel Walker Howe The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War di David Halberstam Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power di Robert Dallek 2009: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family di Annette Gordon-Reed