The Book Prize Index

Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War

Anthony Shadid

From the only journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Iraq, an account of ordinary people caught between the struggles of nations. The Washington Post's Shadid went to Iraq, neither embedded with soldiers nor briefed by politicians. Because he is fluent in Arabic, Shadid--an Arab American born and raised in Oklahoma--was able to disappear into the divided, dangerous worlds of Iraq. Day by day, as the American dream of freedom clashed with Arab notions of justice, he pieced together the human story of ordinary Iraqis weathering the terrible dislocations and tragedies of war.

Journalism & ReportageJournalism & Reportage · medium confidenceJournalism & Reportage81 signalsLlm Classifier: Journalism & Reportage -> Journalism & ReportageKeyword Classifier: American History -> American HistoryKeyword Classifier: True Crime & Justice -> True Crime & JusticeSoldiers, Veterans & Combat ExperienceVietnam WarAmerican Civil War

Award History

2 wins · 3 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current InterestMajor2005WinnerSecondary source
Ridenhour Book Prize2006WinnerSecondary source
National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor2005FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (3)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    • Iraq90%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 58%.