by Sierra Francis

For the year of 2014, UMBC Professor of History Kate Brown was awarded the Alfred J. Beveridge prize by the American Historical Association for her new book, Plutopia. This prize has been awarded annually since 1945 in order to recognize outstanding historical writing on the history of the Americas from 1492 to the present. 

Plutopia is a book about the first two cities in the world to produce plutonium, one American and one Soviet, during the Cold War, and the nuclear footprint they left behind. During the time period, both locations developed into seeming utopias for the working class plant workers and their families, but after surrounding communities became sick from the radioactive waste being dumped into the rivers and soil, suspicion quickly arose. What especially sets this book apart is the comparative history presented between America and the Soviet Union. According to Professor Brown, analyzing both of these histories in tandem has exposed the similarities in nuclear weapons states despite the vast differences in national cultures and ideology. 

After the incredible amount of work put into her research and writing, Professor Brown states, “It has been gratifying that Plutopia has won the premier prizes in a number of different categories - in American history, Slavic studies, and environmental history. This validation across fields tells me that this experiment in transnational history was a success.”