The Book Prize Index

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals

Jane Mayer

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals is a 2008 non-fiction book written by the American journalist Jane Mayer about the torture and detention of suspected enemy combatants during the war on terrorism, and the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to so-called enemy combatants.

Politics & GovernmentPolitics & Government · medium confidencePolitics & Government81 signalsLlm Classifier: Politics & Government -> Politics & GovernmentKeyword Classifier: American History -> American HistoryTopic Classifier: Intellectual Biography -> BiographyIntellectual BiographyIntelligence, Secrecy & Surveillance

Award History

5 wins · 8 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism2009WinnerSecondary source
Hillman Prize for Book Journalism2009WinnerOfficial source
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize2009WinnerSecondary source
Ridenhour Book Prize2009WinnerSecondary source
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award2009Co-winnerOfficial source
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current InterestMajor2008FinalistSecondary source
National Book Award for NonfictionMajor2008FinalistSecondary source
National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor2008FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (8)
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

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  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: 62%.