Cambodia: Report From a Stricken Land [Hardcover]

Henry Kamm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 1998

Based on his observations over three decades, Henry Kamm, Pulitzer Prize-winning NEW YORK TIMES Southeast Asia correspondent, unravels the complexities of Cambodia. Kamm's invaluable document--a factual and personal account of its troubled history-- gives the Western reader the first clear understanding of this magic land's past and present.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Cambodia has long been regarded as one of the lost causes of U.S. foreign policy. Many view it as the unfortunate stage upon which American and Communist forces battled during the Vietnam War in a savage struggle that tore up the land and shattered the fragile populace. Starting with the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, South East Asia correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Kamm recalls 30 years of revolution and genocide in Cambodia. He begins with the establishment of the Khmer Rouge, detailing the vicious Communist occupation that took place between 1975 to 1979, then moves on to the Vietnamese invasion, the 1991 Paris peace settlement, and the demise of Pol Pot. Kamm pays special attention to the foreign influences that played a significant role in crippling the evolution of the Cambodian people.

This sobering perspective on Cambodia's recent, often tragic, history explains how years of political turbulence and violence has strangled the economy and stagnated the social growth of the people to this day. Kamm intrepidly attempts to answer the questions of "why" and "how" even as he contemplates the uncertain future of the country as the new millennium approaches. Kamm writes with poise and grace, while his 30 years of experience in the region gives him unique insight into the plight of the Cambodians. Those who were moved by The Killing Fields, will find Cambodia a gripping read. --Jeremy Storey

From Publishers Weekly

In this disturbing, firsthand report, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent Kamm makes us care deeply about Southeast Asia's forgotten stepchild, Cambodia. Melding a history of the tormented nation of 10 million with reportage based on his numerous trips there between 1970 and 1997, he criticizes the Western powers, led by the U.S., for supporting dictator Pol Pot's genocidal regime (1975-79), which, he argues, the West considered a lesser evil than the Vietnamese communist invaders and their Cambodian backers who ruled for the subsequent decade. Today, while Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia's absent king and former moderate leader, "governs" by fax from Beijing, where he lies incurably ill with cancer, Cambodia is still ruled by the tyrannical, Vietnam-installed coalition government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. According to the author, Hun Sen has never attained legitimacy in the eyes of many of his compatriots, whose country?bestrewed by countless land mines?is beset by rampant lawlessness and corruption, endemic poverty and Asia's worst AIDS/HIV epidemic. Contending that the UN's much-touted 1992-93 peacekeeping mission to Cambodia was a failure that left the status quo intact, Kamm boldly proposes that Cambodia be placed under an international trusteeship to nurse this gravely incapacitated nation back to health.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; 1st edition (July 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559704330
• ISBN-13: 978-1559704335
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,387,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An informative account, May 14, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cambodia: Report From a Stricken Land (Paperback)

Henry Kamm's book provides a good overall view of events in Cambodia of the last thirty years. If you are looking for an in depth account of the Khmer Rouge genocide, look elsewhere. Kamm's book covers the events that led up to the Khmer Rouge takeover, covers their brief rule and their attempts to regain power and finally the downfall of Pol Pot. Along the way Kamm describes the tragedy of a poor country trying overcome the horrors inflicted upon it by its own people. A very well written and readable book by an author who knows his subject well.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history book, August 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cambodia: Report From a Stricken Land (Hardcover)

Great history of recent events in Cambodia. Except for a few lapses, I found it very readable book. Considering the book's length, you can't really lose with this one (I read it easily on a weekend).

The book benefits from Kamm's background. He is from a former Eastern bloc country. Kamm is not afraid to identify 'villains' and the flaws of supposed 'heroes'. Furthermore, as a reporter for the New York Times, Kamm's skills at exposition are outstanding. Still, the book has two general failings: (1) pedantic grammar and (2) sycophantic tendencies. If memory serves, English is not Kamm's first language - and sometimes it shows. Some of his sentences are an endless series of clauses, taking on a stream of consciousness quality. Fortunately, the entire book is not like this. It seems Kamm simply tries too hard.

Second, Kamm generally offers high praise for those who have consented to be interviewed - at least initially. For example, Kamm heaps praise on Prince Sihanouk. To be fair, he later criticizes (harshly) the Prince. Still, the reader is sometimes left to wonder how 'balanced' Kamm's point-of-view really is. Although Kamm is blameless for not having equal access to the Khmers Rouges as he does their successors, the reader is left with the uneasy feeling that the book suffers from factual gaps.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We should be grateful for our industrialized world, December 29, 1999

By 

Cityview (Des Moines, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambodia: Report From a Stricken Land (Hardcover)

How lucky you are

In a country where we hold our sense of victimhood as dearly as we do Mom and apple pie, "Cambodia: Report from a Stricken Land" should be required reading. Though author Henry Kamm is a New York Times correspondent, this is not the standard history written from an U.S. foreign policy perspective. Kamm has reported from Cambodia for four decades; his is the tale of the Khmer people. Like much of Southeast Asia, Cambodia has long been impoverished, undeveloped and far more corrupt than Chicago in its heyday. Though Kamm's coverage stretches back a few hundred years, it largely centers on the last 40: the height of Cambodia's suffering. He chronicles the rule of a despot prince, the brutal idiocy of communism and the brief yet notorious reign of the Khmer Rouge, which matched the Nazis horror for horror. Equally fascinating is a view of the Cold War from a Third World pawn's perspective. For the last 50 years, Cambodia has been the foreign policy slave of France, the U.S., Vietnam, China, Thailand and the U.S.S.R. Yet you'll find no talk of democracy's glorious triumph - a la Reagan - in this book. Without preaching, Kamm starkly illustrates how American policy has precious little to do with human rights and freedom. It had everything to do with self-interest. Many Cambodians died because of it. If there's a quibble with the book, it's that Kamm occasionally jumps from date to date, making it a tad hard to follow. But this is a minor complaint. The wonderful thing about Kamm is that he doesn't use the dry, thesis-paper speak used by so many history writers. This is a book that is both personal and compassionate.