The Ugly American

For other uses, see Ugly American (disambiguation).
For the film based on the novel, see The Ugly American (film).
The Ugly American
First edition cover
AuthorEugene Burdick
William Lederer
LanguageEnglish
GenrePolitical fiction
Set inSarkhan
Published1958 by Norton
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages285 pp
OCLC287560
823.914
LC ClassPS3562.E3

The Ugly American is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia.

The book caused a sensation in diplomatic circles and had major political implications. The Peace Corps was established during the Kennedy administration partly as a result of the book. The bestseller has remained continuously in print and is one of the most influential American political novels.[1] It has been called an "iconic Cold War text."[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hellmann-1983 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Immerwahr, Daniel (2019). "The Ugly American: Peeling the Onion of an Iconic Cold War Text". The Journal of American-East Asian Relations. 26 (1): 7–20. doi:10.1163/18765610-02601003. S2CID 186928922.