Pulitzer Prize General Non Fiction Winner

Fire in the Lake

by Frances FitzGerald

Summary

A profound study of the history and culture of Vietnam and how the American intervention failed to understand the "traditional" social structure of the Vietnamese people.

Historical Context & Significance

A tie winner in 1973. One of the most influential books on the Vietnam War; it won the Pulitzer, the National Book Award, and the Bancroft Prize for its critique of "American Exceptionalism."