Historian Gerhard L. Weinberg, an American diplomatic and military historian who is professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has won the $100,000 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award.

A German-born Jew who served in the south Pacific for the U.S. during the Second World War, Weinberg is known for his writing about the war, including A World at Arms and World in the Balance.

After the war, Weinberg joined at U.S. military project to microfilm captured German documents. One of his first books was a study of the foreign policy of Hitler's Germany.

He also wrote about Germany's relationship with Russia and unearthed the behind-the-scenes history of the Nazi dictatorship.

He has reassessed the role of former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain on the war and wrote Visions of Victory: The Hopes of Eight World War II Leaders, which attempts to profile of the expectations of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt and other world leaders.

"Dr. Weinberg is truly a gifted writer of military history who has devoted his skills and talent to produce A World at Arms, perhaps the finest study of World War Two ever attempted by a single scholar," James N. Pritzker, founder of the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago, said Monday.

It is only the third time the award for lifetime excellence in military writing has been presented — the first was in 2007. It is sponsored by the Chicago-based Tawani Foundation.

Weinberg, 81, will receive his award Oct. 24 in a gala in Chicago.