Fire in the Lake Audiobook By Frances FitzGerald cover art

Fire in the Lake

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Fire in the Lake

By: Frances FitzGerald
Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
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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 subsequently 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.

©1972, 2009 Frances FitzGerald (P)2018 Hachette Audio Asia Military Politics & Government Southeast Asia Vietnam War Wars & Conflicts World War China Imperialism Socialism Colonial Period Middle East Imperial Japan Self-Determination Capitalism

Featured Article: The Best Vietnam War Audiobooks, Fiction and Nonfiction


Over the past four decades, many people have written about the Vietnam War in an effort to make sense of the raging debates, the staggering death and destruction, and the lingering trauma. History is often complicated, biased, or missing key information, especially when it comes to war. Arm yourself with comprehensive knowledge of the conflict with our selection of titles detailing the Vietnam War, from fiction to nonfiction, personal stories to histories.

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Writing history as it is unfolding is a valuable perspective on this turbulent period. It is part of the history of the war that it is attempting to understand. It has held up well over the ensuing 50 years.

Dated which is its value

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The book was required reading for my college military history class. Now, I know why!

In the end, the Vietnamese became Vietnamese again!!!

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This is a comprehensive historical, political, social, and strategic review. I’ve read a fair bit about the war and this is the best, by far. It is brilliant and damning. It is almost incredible that it was written so early, published in 1972.

Comprehensive, Exceptional, Indispensable

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I have been reading several books about the Vietnam War ad this tome is definitely one of the best. Its pages are filled with cultural details about Vietnam which allows its readers develop an understanding of cultural clash between the Vietnamese and the West, the French and the Americans. Fire in the Lake is a must read for scholars studying the Vietnam War.

Excellent Book

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Anyone studying the Vietnamese War needs to read ‘Fire in the Lake’ to get the cultural and social trauma the Vietnamese endured while American white men desperately tried to keep the domino upright.
I am a Vietnam veteran. Hubris and misery go hand in hand.

American Hubris; Vietnamese Misery

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