Best book on foreign affairs
AWARD YEAR: 1980
AWARD NAME: The Cornelius Ryan Award
AWARD RECIPIENT: Dan Kurzman
AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
AWARD HONORED WORK: “Miracle of November: Madrid’s Last Stand-1936”
Dan Kurzman has again demonstrated his ability to write a compelling book of history. “Miracle of November: Madrid’s Last Stand-1936,” reports the siege of Madrid effectively through the lives and the deaths of those who fought in the war, as well as those who ordered the fighting. The meticulous research and eye for detail make an accurate sweeping narrative read as clearly and dramatically as a novel, and makes an important contribution to an important area of history. The author of six previous books, Kurzman started his career with International News Service in Paris, and worked for NBC in the Middle East, McGraw-Hill in Tokyo, then joined The Washington Post. While writing books he also reports for the Washington Star-News. He’s been expelled from South Africa, attacked by locusts in Ethiopia, arrested in Haiti, caught in a tribal battle in Afghanistan, and ducked poisoned arrows in Katanga.
A citation went to John Toland for “No Man’s Land.”
Judges: Anita Diamant Berke, Hallie Burnett, Kenneth Giniger and Carol Smith.