LONDON (AP) — A story of starvation in Stalin's Soviet Union, a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder and a look at how factories changed the world are among finalists for a $75,000 history book prize.

Eight books competing for the Cundill History Prize include Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine," Caroline Fraser's "Prairie Fires" and Joshua B. Freeman's "Behemoth."

Other contenders announced Tuesday in London include "Grant," Ron Chernow's biography of Ulysses S. Grant; Tim Grady's "A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War;" Maya Jasanoff's look at the world that made Joseph Conrad, "The Dawn Watch;" David I. Kertzer's papal page-turner "The Pope Who Would Be King;" and Sam White's story of colonialism meeting climate change, "A Cold Welcome."

The winner of the prize, run by Montreal's McGill University, will be announced Nov. 15.