The Ambassador Book Award (1986–2011) was given each year by the English-Speaking Union. It honored books that helped people learn more about American life and culture. Winners were called literary ambassadors because they shared important stories about America with people around the world using clear and modern English. A group of judges chose winning books from new works in fiction, biography, autobiography, current events, American studies, and poetry.

The award began in 1986. Books by well-known authors such as Tom Wolfe (1988), Joan Didion (1988), Raymond Carver (1989), Gore Vidal (1989), John Cheever (1992), John Updike (1997), Don DeLillo (1998), Philip Roth (1999), and Annie Proulx (2000) won the award.