The Herbert Baxter Adams Prize is an annual book prize of the American Historical Association.
It is awarded for "a distinguished first book by a young scholar in the field of European history", and is named in honor of Herbert Baxter Adams, who was from the faculty of Johns Hopkins University and one of the founders of the AHA.
In 1986 eligibility for the prize was changed from "American citizens" to "citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada".
[1] The prize is one of the most prestigious awards offered by the U.S. historical profession.
Previous recipients include Henry Steele Commager, Gordon A. Craig, James S. Donnelly Jr., Arno Mayer and Joan Wallach Scott.