Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam

Book Overview: Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam

Frances FitzGerald’s landmark history of Vietnam and the Vietnam War, “a compassionate and penetrating account of the collision of two societies that remain untranslatable to one another.” (New York Times Book Review)

This magisterial work, based on Frances FitzGerald’s many years of research and travels, takes us inside the history of Vietnam — the traditional, ancestor-worshiping villages, the conflicts between Communists and anti-Communists, Catholics and Buddhists, generals and monks, the disruption created by French colonialism, and America’s ill-fated intervention — and reveals the country as seen through Vietnamese eyes.

Originally published in 1972, Fire in the Lake was the first history of Vietnam written by an American and won the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the National Book Award. With a clarity and insight unrivaled by any author before it or since, Frances FitzGerald illustrates how America utterly and tragically misinterpreted the realities of Vietnam.

ISBN-13	9780316159197
ISBN-10	0316159190
Publisher	Mulholland Books
Publication Date	2002-07-17
Edition	Reprint
Language	en
Pages	496
Dimensions	in x in x in
Weight	lbs

About the Author

Frances Fitzgerald

Frances Fitzgerald is a distinguished American author, known for her profound and insightful exploration of American history and culture. Born in 1940 in New York, she graduated from Radcliffe College and has since become a prominent figure in the literary realm. Her journalism career started at the New York Herald Tribune’s Sunday supplement, leading to her incredibly successful career as an author and journalist covering cultural and political issues.

Her seminal work, “Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam,” secured her reputation as a skillful investigative author. Released in 1972 amidst the tumult of the Vietnam War, the book earned her the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, the Bancroft Prize for history, and the US National Book Award in contemporary affairs.

Throughout her prolific career, Fitzgerald continued to write several impactful books examining American society, including “America Revised” and “The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America.” Her ability to delve into complex cultural and political landscapes with clarity and precision sets her work apart, making her a profound voice in American literature.