Elkins majored in history at Princeton, graduating "summa cum laude" before moving to Harvard for her master's and doctorate. Her historical methodology, which includes use of written sources as well as ethnographic field work and oral interviews, has led to major revisions in the fields of African and British imperial histories, and has also generated significant criticism, particularly from conservative academics. Elkins' Harvard PhD was concerned with the detention system employed by the colonial authorities during the Mau Mau Uprising, and served as the basis of the 2002 BBC documentary, "Kenya: White Terror", in which Elkins and her fieldwork were both profiled. "Kenya: White Terror" won the International Red Cross Award at the Monte Carlo Film Festival. Elkins's dissertation provided the foundation for her 2005 publication, "Imperial Reckoning", which was met with critical acclaim in newspapers and magazines around the world, including "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", "The Guardian", and "The Economist". In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2006, "Imperial Reckoning" was named a book of the year by "The Economist" and an editors' choice by "The New York Times", and was a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize. In its commendation of Elkins, the Pulitzer Prize Committee wrote: ""Imperial Reckoning" is history of the highest order: meticulously researched, brilliantly written, and powerfully dramatic. An unforgettable act of historical re-creation, it is also a disturbing reminder of the brutal imperial precedents that continue to inform Western nations in their drive to democratize the world."