The 62nd annual Francis Parkman Prize has been awarded to David W. Blight for his biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.

The prize announcement calls the book “a biography of a ‘radical patriot,’ who was both a fierce critic of his country and an ardent proponent of its values.” It goes on to suggest that “this sweeping biography of one of the most complex figures in American history seems destined to be a classic of the genre.”

The Francis Parkman Prize is awarded annually by the Society of American Historians to a nonfiction work of history on an American theme published the previous year that is distinguished by its literary merit.

The prize is named for Francis Parkman, whose monumental work, France and England in North America was widely praised for its literary elegance as well as its historical importance.