- Paperback: 632 pages
- Publisher: Public Affairs; Revised edition edition (Oct 20 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1891620002
- ISBN-13: 978-1891620003
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13.9 x 4.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 762 g
- Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #312,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Elizabeth Becker's When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution is a heart-rending history of modern Cambodia--a state whose people have, in the last 30 years, endured war, political upheaval, international betrayal, and genocide. Beginning with the Khmer Rouge overthrow of the U.S.-backed Lon Nol regime in 1975, Becker examines the historical patterns of violence and authority within Cambodian culture that made the Khmer Rouge's slaughter of close to 2 million people possible.
Becker integrates interviews with Cambodian leaders and ordinary citizens with a penetrating analysis of the politics of the cold war and humanitarianism. For example, she follows the story of Mey Komphot, a banker, who, like millions of others, was displaced from his life in Phnom Penh and marched to a labor camp. She also explores how the United States, as well as many states within the United Nations, refused to acknowledge the forced departures and the killing in order to appease China's hunger for punishing Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia. By contrasting the concerns of states with those of people, Becker shows how the international order has repeatedly betrayed the people of Cambodia. When the War Was Over is more than just an authoritative account of the Cambodian Revolution; Becker's trenchant portrait of the dynamics of power and human suffering serves as a warning about how diplomatic imperatives can blunt the United Nations' ability to preserve human rights and life. --James Highfill
Book Description
Award-winning journalist Elizabeth Becker started covering Cambodia in 1973 for The Washington Post, when the country was perceived as little more than a footnote to the Vietnam War. Then, with the rise of the Khmer Rouge in 1975 came the closing of the border and a systematic reorganization of Cambodian society. Everyone was sent from the towns and cities to the countryside, where they were forced to labor endlessly in the fields. The intelligentsia were brutally exterminated, and torture, terror, and death became routine. Ultimately, almost two million people—nearly a quarter of the population—were killed in what was one of this century's worst crimes against humanity.When the War Was Over is Elizabeth Becker's masterful account of the Cambodian nightmare. Encompassing the era of French colonialism and the revival of Cambodian nationalism; 1950s Paris, where Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot received his political education; the killing fields of Cambodia; government chambers in Washington, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Hanoi, and Phnom Penh; and the death of Pol Pot in 1998; this is a book of epic vision and staggering power. Merging original historical research with the many voices of those who lived through the times and exclusive interviews with every Cambodian leader of the past quarter century, When the War Was Over illuminates the darkness of Cambodia with the intensity of a bolt of lightning.
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First Sentence
The Second Indochina War (1960-1975) was the Vietnam War. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The Second Indochina War (1960-1975) was the Vietnam War. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Tedious and poorly written,
By A Customer
This review is from: When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition (Paperback)
I came here looking for a book that might explain the background to what happened in Cambodia. But i can only conclude Becker covered this turmoil from the her apartment's balcony. This has to be one of the most lifeless products of a typewriter keyboard that I have ever read. Maybe that's too harsh, but I know I didn't find the answer to anything I was looking for. Who did she write this for, herself?
3.0 out of 5 stars
Correction to Joseph Pacelli's Review,
By
This review is from: When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition (Paperback)
1) The Khmer Rouge didn't win the war after the Vietnamese's invasion. The Khmer Rough won the war in 1975, against the Lonol's regime. The Vietnamese's invasion is in 1979; this invasion pushed the Khmer Rough into the jungle bordered with Thailand.2) As far as I know, the Khmer Rough didn't commit the atrocities until the it won the war (1975). These atrocities lasted until the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. 3) I agreed with Joseph that most liberal media did overly blame the US. On the other hand, most conservative media never blamed a single action the US did. The truth lies between. 4) I read the first edition of this book years ago. I remembered that it was a decent book.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
When the Book Was Over...,
By Jamij "jamij" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition (Paperback)
My book club chose this book, in part because of the great reviews it has received. But we were all very disappointed, because we (unanimously) found it to be terrible! I made it through about 150 pages before I had to stop reading. I just could not force myself to continue. Many of fellow book-clubbers could not make it past the first chapter. Becker is an absolutely awful writer. The story of the Khmer Revolution could have been really interesting if done right. But Becker gets bogged down, detailing every single meeting, every single move of the key players. She also jumps around chronologically, discussing the events of 1973, then jumping to the events of 1969, then coming back to 1972. It's very hard for the reader to keep track of what's going on. One of the things that seemed most interesting to me was that readers noted the use of anecdotes to explain the events from the perspective of those who lived through it. But I found her use of anecdotes to be completely undeveloped. Rather than focus on the human interest aspect of her story, Becker's book reads like a (bad) poli-sci textbook. Yawn.***Note: the book is over 500 pages long, so maybe it gets much better after the first 150. I'll never know.
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