LSU New Orleans history professor Dr. Marc Landry has received the 2026 George Perkins Marsh Prize for the best book in environmental history for his book, Mountain Battery: The Alps, Water, and Power in the Fossil Fuel Age.
Landry, an associate professor in the History Department and director of the Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies, received the award March 27 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Environmental History in Kansas City.
Published by Stanford University Press, Mountain Battery examines the role of hydropower and the Alpine landscape in the development of modern Europe. The George Perkins Marsh Prize recognizes outstanding scholarship in environmental history and honors books that offer innovative perspectives on the relationship between the environment and social, economic and political history.
The award committee praised Landry’s book as “a new take on the global history of electrification,” highlighting his use of the Alpine landscape to examine European and energy history.
Landry’s connection to the Alps began during his undergraduate years at what is now LSU New Orleans, when he participated in the University’s Academic Year Abroad program in Innsbruck, Austria. His experience living among the Alps sparked his interest in exploring the region’s role in European history.
He later returned to Austria for additional research at the University of Innsbruck, supported by the Botstiber Institute and Fulbright Austria. That research ultimately contributed to Mountain Battery, which explores how Alpine hydropower helped shape nation-building, industrialization and warfare during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The George Perkins Marsh Prize marks the second major honor Landry has received for the book. In fall 2025, he received the Baker-Burton Award for the best first book in European history by a scholar at a Southern college or university.
The publication of Mountain Battery was substantially supported by the LSU New Orleans Office of Research, highlighting the University’s commitment to supporting faculty scholarship and research with national and international impact.
