Is it coincidence that The Pulitzer Prizes awarded in literary categories this year had a topical flair, dealing with tycoons and economic crisis, and nuclear doomsday? I don't think so.
The prize in History went to Liaquat Ahamed's Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke The World, published by Penguin Press, which the jury cited as "a compelling account of how four powerful bankers played crucial roles in triggering the Great Depression and ultimately transforming the United States into the world’s financial leader."
The price in Biography went to T.J. Stiles' The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, published by Alfred A. Knopf, which the jury cited as "a penetrating portrait of a complex, self-made titan who revolutionized transportation, amassed vast wealth and shaped the economic world in ways still felt today."
And the prize in General Nonfiction went to David E. Hoffman's The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy, published by Doubleeday, which the Jury cited as a well documented narrative that examines the terrifying doomsday competition between two superpowers and how weapons of mass destruction still imperil humankind."
Cheers you right up, doesn't it?
