A controversial best-seller in 1977, The Public Burning has since emerged as one of the most influential novels of our time. The first major work of contemporary fiction ever to use living historical fiction figures as c...A controversial best-seller in 1977, The Public Burning has since emerged as one of the most influential novels of our time. The first major work of contemporary fiction ever to use living historical fiction figures as characters, the novel reimagines the three fateful days in 1953 that culminated with the execution of alleged atomic spies julius and ethel rosenberg.