FrancesFitzGerald’slandmarkhistoryofVietnamandtheVietnamWar,“acompassionateandpenetratingaccountofthecollisionoftwosocietiesthatremainuntranslatabletooneanother.“(NewYorkTimesBookReview)Thismagisterialwork,basedonFrancesFitzGerald’smanyyearsofresearchandtravels,takesusinsidethehistoryofVietnam--thetraditional,ancestor-worshipingvillages,theconflictsbetweenCommunistsandanti-Communists,CatholicsandBuddhists,generalsandmonks,thedisruptioncreatedbyFrenchcolonialism,andAmerica’sill-fatedintervention--andrevealsthecountryasseenthroughVietnameseeyes.Originallypublishedin1972,FireintheLakewasthefirsthistoryofVietnamwrittenbyanAmericanandwonthePulitzerPrize,theBancroftPrize,andtheNationalBookAward.Withaclarityandinsightunrivaledbyanyauthorbeforeitorsince,FrancesFitzGeraldillustrateshowAmericautterlyandtragicallymisinterpretedtherealitiesofVietnam.
