Pol Pot (World Leaders Past & Present) [Library Binding]

Rebecca Stefoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1990 | Series: World Leaders Past & Present

A biography of the prime minister of Cambodia.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-- Saloth Sar, alias Pol Pot, is such a shadowy figure in real life that it is difficult to come up with enough material for a decent biography. Stefoff has done as well as anyone can in portraying this elusive character who has successfully covered his past, evaded interviewers and followers alike, and remains extremely camera shy, but readers won't come away with any real feeling for Pol Pot as a human being. The author has carefully woven what is known about him into the tapestry of better-known facts about the Khmer Rouge regime and its endless atrocities. Generous quotations from eyewitnesses and photos of the Khmer Rouge in action all add to a better understanding of the time. The few available pictures of Pol Pot himself show a smiling, portly, almost fatherly figure. Up-to-date, the book covers the current maneuverings of all parties concerned in Cambodia, as well as information on an international human rights group pledged to bring Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to trial for genocide. As a biography, this is a failure through no fault of the author; biographical information is just too slender to sustain a full treatment. As historical reportage, however, Pol Pot succeeds admirably as a well-written and logically presented catalogue of a fanatic regime and a lesson in modern history. --John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 111 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea House Publications (December 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555468489
• ISBN-13: 978-1555468484
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,824,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rebecca Stefoff published her first books when she was in college and has been writing ever since. She is the author of more than 150 books, with more on the way. Her writing motto: "Ideas are easy. Pages are hard."

Rebecca has written many nonfiction books for children and young adults, with an emphasis on science and history. Through her books teenage readers can explore topics as varied as ghosts, robots, bacteria, evolution, women pioneers, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, and forensic crime solving.

Over the course of her freelance writing career Rebecca has also published romance novels, celebrity biographies, reference works, and even a self-help book. In addition, she has adapted the works of historian Howard Zinn, science writer Charles C. Mann, and ethnic studies pioneer Ronald Takaki for young audiences.

After growing up in Indiana, Rebecca moved to Philadelphia for graduate school. Later she moved to the Pacific Northwest and now lives in Portland, Oregon.

When Rebecca was in the fifth grade she picked up a copy of Robert A. Heinlein's novel Space Cadet in her school library. That got her hooked on speculative fiction: science fiction at first, then fantasy and later horror. As a grad student in English at the University of Pennsylvania, she developed and taught the school's first undergraduate classes in science fiction and fantasy. She still loves speculative fiction and reads a lot of nonfiction as well. Her interests include evolutionary biology, Himalayan travel and polar exploration, and archaeology.