Today marks the much awaited announcement of this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners in journalism and arts. Yale University Press is pleased to report that Arthur H. Cash’s book, John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty is named a finalist in the Biography category.

Recently released in paperback, this highly entertaining biography draws a full portrait of one of the most colorful figures in English political history. Remembered as the father of the British free press, a champion of liberty, and a hero to American colonists, Wilkes enjoyed a rancorous political career rancorous (involving duels, imprisonments, and a famous massacre) as well as a notorious private life.

Tom Hodgkinson, writing for the Independent on Sunday, called it, “….[a] superb biography….After finishing the last page I turned back to the beginning in order to enjoy it all over again.”

For a full listing of 2007 winners and finalists, visit the organization’s website here.