Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia [Paperback]

William Shawcross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 2002

Although there are many books and films dealing with the Vietnam War, Sideshow tells the truth about America's secret and illegal war with Cambodia from 1969 to 1973. William Shawcross interviewed hundreds of people of all nationalities, including cabinet ministers, military men, and civil servants, and extensively researched U.S. Government documents. This full-scale investigation—with material new to this edition—exposes how Kissinger and Nixon treated Cambodia as a sideshow. Although the president and his assistant claimed that a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia was necessary to eliminate North Vietnamese soldiers who were attacking American troops across the border, Shawcross maintains that the bombings only spread the conflict, but led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent massacre of a third of Cambodia's population.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Sideshow is both masterly and horrifying.... It presents hard and irrefutable evidence.... should be compulsory reading! (New York Review Of Books )

Remarkable and compelling…. First and foremost an American political thriller.... where American officials spied on each other, lied to each other and falsified reports.... ALL TOO REAL. (Boston Globe )

Sideshow excels.... It has the sweep and shadows of a spy novel as it portrays the surreal world of power, severed from morality. (New York Times )

Shawcross's 1979 volume was powerful when first published and even more so today: Henry Kissinger in his last book spent nearly 100 pages attacking it. This revised edition includes another onslaught, by Kissinger aide Peter Rodman and Shawcross's rebuttal. Essential title. (Library Journal )

About the Author

William Shawcross, the author of Deliver Us from Evil, lives in London.

William Shawcross, the author of Deliver Us from Evil, lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press; Revised Edition edition (August 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081541224X
• ISBN-13: 978-0815412243
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > History > Asia > Cambodia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to the future -- Rome, Cambodia, Iraq ..., July 19, 2003

By 

R. ARANT "Toun" (Lanesville, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (Paperback)

While I've read this book many times over the years, my most recent reading struck me hard. The description of the May 8, 1970 meeting between Henry Kissinger and a number of his friends and personal advisors from Harvard did not seem especially interesting in past years, but jumped off the page this time around. Thomas Schelling told Kissinger that after the invasion of Cambodia the group no longer had faith in Henry or the Nixon administration's ability to conduct foreign policy, and would have nothing further to do with Kissinger. The group pointed out that the invasion could be "used by anyone else in the world as a precedent for invading another country, in order, for example, to clear out terrorists." Another section recounts Arthur Schlesinger Jr. quoting a historian's recollection of the Romans -- "There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not Roman, they were of Rome's allies; and if Rome had no allies, the allies would be invented." Shawcross also notes that in 1964 the US condemned Britain for assaulting a Yemeni town used as a base by insurgents attacking Aden. Another chilling touch is the mention of Lincoln's reaction when he was advised that the President could invade a neighbor if necessary to repel invasion -- Lincoln replied, "Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you give him as much as you propose." Lincoln's famous speech given as a young man in the 1830s in which he remarked that all the armies of Europe could not forcibly take a drink of water from the Ohio River and therefore "... if this great nation is to ever die, it will be from suicide" rings more true than the words of today's politicians proclaiming the right to declare preemptive war.

An excellent summary of the events that overtook Cambodia, "Sideshow" has much more to offer to us today as we try to figure out how we reached this turning point in our history and recall how badly things can go wrong whenever we deviate from the principles upon which our nation was founded.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History to be reviewed over and over again, May 30, 2005

By 

Richard Stampfle "Richard S." (Nong Khai, Thailand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (Paperback)

Shawcross gets into the minds of Kissinger and Nixon so well. His is a book to be read over and over again to see the working of the U.S. Government and how it can destroy a country. He talks about the 25 pound shark at the bottom of a swimming pool full of children -- and we understand how the USA's leaders destroyed a country. It is a lesson to be learned over and over again as we go about destroying other countries. This is one great read - worthy of the time it takes to understand it. A victory for the author over Mr. Kissinger.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, September 16, 2006

By 

David Alston (Chapel Hill, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (Paperback)

This book has managed to live on, which is perhaps unfortunate - historically speaking, it's far more relevant to contemporary geopolitics than it should be.

In any case, SIDESHOW has managed to stand as one of the better books on Cambodia, and America's involvement in Cambodia (Elizabeth Becker's WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER is a must-read as well). One could debate Shawcross' perspectives, but his research is meticulous and has withstood many attacks, and his depiction of the machiavellian darkness that can creep into foreign policy is chilling and ruthless, and - for better of worse - makes for hypnotic reading, all the more frightening as it's drawn straight from history, research, the Freedom of Information act.

Now more than ever, this is essential reading.

-David Alston