The Ugly American - Softcover

Burdick, Eugene; Lederer, William J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393356728 ISBN 13: 9780393356724

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019

Synopsis

The multi-million-copy bestseller that blends truth and fiction in a “devastating indictment of American policy” (New York Times Book Review).

A piercing exposé of American incompetence and corruption in Southeast Asia, The Ugly American captivated the nation when it was first published in 1958. The book introduces readers to an unlikely hero in the titular “ugly American”―and to the ignorant politicians and arrogant ambassadors who ignore his empathetic and commonsense advice. In linked stories and vignettes set in the fictional nation of Sarkhan, William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick draw an incisive portrait of American foreign policy gone dangerously wrong―and how it might be fixed.

Eerily relevant sixty years after its initial publication, The Ugly American reminds us that “today, as the battle for hearts and minds has shifted to the Middle East, we still can’t speak Sarkhanese” (New York Times).

About this title

About the Author:

Eugene Burdick was a political scientist and author of The Ugly American, Fail-Safe, and other books.

William J. Lederer (1912-2009) was was a former U.S. Navy captain and the co-author of The Ugly American (with Eugene Burdick), The Mirages of Marriage (with Don D. Jackson), and other books.

Review:

“Slashing.... Draw[s] the reader into a vital subject rarely treated by fiction.”
- Time

“A powerful, searching book.”
- Los Angeles Times

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0393356728
• ISBN 13: 9780393356724
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288