George Packer Wins 2006 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism

Award Given for Packer's The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq

Selection Committee of Journalists and Publishers Headed by Osborn Elliott

New York, NY, May 10, 2006 -- The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism was presented today to George Packer for his book The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The award, which includes a $15,000 cash prize, is given annually to a journalist whose work brings clarity and public attention to important issues, events, or policies. The presentation was made jointly by Paul LeClerc, the Library's President, and James F. Hoge, Jr., Editor of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Award Selection Committee, at a luncheon ceremony held in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Stephen B. Shepard, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism of The City University of New York was the guest speaker.

"The Assassin's Gate provides a balanced and nuanced view of the forces that led to the war in Iraq and its human and political consequences," said Library President Paul LeClerc. "George Packer's eyewitness reporting has resulted in a riveting narrative of the build-up to war, one that is rich in detailed and textured insight. His book is an immensely valuable contribution to our understanding of this complex and tragic drama in the Middle East, and a worthy and deserving winner of this year's Helen Bernstein Book Award."

"Iraq has been such a slow motion tragedy that having a book to write was the only way for it be bearable for me and redeemable," said George Packer in accepting the award. "Now that the book is finished, all I have left is Iraq, and it has been unexpectedly difficult to continue to follow the war without a book to write about it." Packer also mentioned that the early chapters of the book were written in the Rose Main Reading Room in The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.

Publishers, editors, and executives of major American newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses nominated 134 books for this year's Bernstein competition. Five finalists were chosen by a review committee of New York Public Library librarians. The four other finalists, each of whom received a $1,000 cash prize, are: Jasper Becker for Rogue Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea (Oxford University Press), Kurt Eichenwald for Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story (Broadway Books), David Kirby for Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy (St. Martin's Press), and Anthony Shadid for Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War (Henry Holt). The winner was selected by an independent committee of distinguished journalists and publishers.

This journalism prize, now in its 19th year, honors journalists and their unique role in drawing the public's attention to important current news issues.   It is one of the largest journalism prizes awarded in the United States. Past winners have included Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Lemann, David Remnick, Tina Rosenberg, and Elaine Sciolino.

About the Author and Book
George Packer is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of several books, including Blood of the Liberals (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000), which won the 2001 Robert F. Kennedy Award. In The Assassins' Gate, the author explores the war in Iraq from various angles. He provides a coherent account of the neo-conservative point of view and recounts the decisions that led to the war in Iraq, bringing to life the people and ideas that created the Bush administration's war policy. Having made four tours of Iraq on assignment for The New Yorker, the author eloquently illuminates the struggles of the Americans and Iraqis caught in this war of unforeseen consequences. He also explores the place of the war in American life and its polarizing effects on today's political climate.

About the Selection Committee
The 2006 Selection Committee was chaired by Osborn Elliott, former Editor-in Chief of Newsweek and Founding Chairman of the Citizens Committee for New York City. Mr. Elliott, who has headed the Selection Committee since 1998, will be stepping down this year. The other 2006 committee members are: Ellis Cose, Contributing Editor of Newsweek; James F. Hoge, Jr., Editor of Foreign Affairs; Harold W. McGraw III, Chairman, President, and CEO of The McGraw Hill Companies; Jack Rosenthal, President of The New York Times Company Foundation; Elaine Sciolino, Paris Bureau Chief of The New York Times; Ray Sokolov, writer; and Alair Townsend, Publisher of Crain's New York Business.

About The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award
Established in 1987 as an annual award, The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism honors an outstanding journalist. The award was established with a gift from Joseph F. Bernstein in honor of Helen Bernstein, a former journalist in Palm Beach, Florida. The gift also included an endowment for the position of the Helen Bernstein Chief Librarian for Periodicals and Journals in the General Research Division of the Library. The chair is currently held by Stewart Bodner, who oversees a collection of 11,500 current periodicals in 24 languages. This collection is used by approximately 60,000 researchers annually and is an invaluable resource for writers, artists, journalists, broadcasters, business people, and students. Information about the award and the nomination process is available online at www.nypl.org/pr/awardspage.cfm.

Previous Winners
The previous 18 winners are:

2005: Jason DeParle, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare

2004: Dana Priest, The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America's Military

2003: Keith Bradsher, High and Mighty: SUVs -- The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way

2002: Nina Bernstein, The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care

2001: Elaine Sciolino, Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran

2000 (joint award): James Mann, About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship with China, from Nixon to Clinton;
Patrick Tyler, A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History

1999: Philip Gourevitch, We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: stories from Rwanda

1998: Patti Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa

1997: David Quammen, The Song of the Dodo: Island Biography in an Age of Extinctions

1996:Tina Rosenberg, The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism

1995: Joseph Nocera, A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class

1994: David Remnick, Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire

1993: Samuel Freedman, Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church

1992: Alex P. Kotlowitz, There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America

1991: Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America

1990: Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem

1989: Judy Woodruff for her series of television reports focusing on the Iran-Contra affair

1988: James Reston, in special recognition of his 50-year contribution to journalism.

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Contact:    Rima Corben   212.704.8600

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