American historian wins Holberg Prize

American historian Natalie Zemon Davis has won Norway's 4.5 million kroner ($785,000) Holberg International Memorial Prize for her narrative approach to the field of history.

The Norwegian awards committee says the 81-year-old Detroit native "shows how particular events can be narrated and analyzed so as to reveal deeper historical tendencies and underlying patterns of thought and action."

The award citation praises Davis as "one of the most creative historians writing today." It says she has inspired a generation of younger historians and promoted "cross-fertilization between disciplines."

Davis is a professor at the University of Toronto and professor emerita at Princeton University, where she taught for many years. The award will be presented in June.