Best nonfiction book on international affairs
AWARD YEAR: 2006
AWARD NAME: The Cornelius Ryan Award 2006
RECIPIENT: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
AFFILIATION: Alfred A. Knopf
HONORED WORK: “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone”
This is a disturbing story of life inside the walled-off Baghdad enclave that has served as the nerve center of America’s occupation of Iraq. The Washington Post’s Rajiv Chandrasekaran captures the dangerous absurdity of Americans ensconced in their imperial compound. Operating from air conditioned spaces in Saddam’s old palaces, comforted by all the amenities of home and protected by the most powerful army on earth, they remained dangerously cut off from the chaotic realities of the country they were supposed to save. By turns tragic and darkly comic, “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” is a stark reminder of how much damage American arrogance and naivete can inflict on the world.
Citation for Excellence:
Lawrence Wright
Alfred A. Knopf
“The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11”