Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia [Paperback]

Carol Wagner (Author), Valentina DuBasky (Photographer), Jack Kornfield (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2002

Soul Survivors gives voice to the women and children who stayed in Cambodia after the genocide (1975-1979), when nearly two million people died from execution, starvation, or disease. It also includes the stories of two refugees who came to the US as orphans, returning as young adults to help their country. These engaging personal narratives reveal that hope and kindness survived the darkest period of Cambodia’s recent history.

Sixty-four photographs draw the reader into contemporary Cambodia to witness the survivors’ courageous work to rebuild their lives, families, and culture in one of the poorest nations of the world. Soul Survivors includes a chronology of Cambodian history, a map, and an index. Additional chapters describe the Khmer Rouge, the role of the US, the landmine situation, and the Buddhist peace movement.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book is important because it is about the best of what it means to be human. -- Dr. Judy Ledgerwood, Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University

effectively demonstrates the ... links between the destruction of Cambodian society ... in the 1970s and the suffering experienced by ... Cambodians today. -- Susan E. Cook, Ph.D., Director, Cambodian Genocide Program, Yale Center for International and Area Studies

fourteen resilient survivors endow their battered, courageous country, and the reader..., with ... their own energies, intelligence and grace. -- David Chandler, author of A History of Cambodia and Facing the Cambodian Past

About the Author

CAROL WAGNER has been working to end violence and heal the wounds of war for the past fifteen years. As the former director of a peace center located in the San Francisco Bay Area, she started programs in conflict resolution and race relations. She works with women’s organizations in Cambodia and Vietnam and has led educational tours to those countries. Her efforts include marketing handicrafts made by landmine victims and poor women and raising funds for many humanitarian projects such as a women’s revolving loan fund, scholarship programs, and medical clinics. She was a UN-trained observer in Cambodia’s 1998 election.

Product Details

• Paperback: 259 pages
• Publisher: Creative Arts Book Company (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887393918
• ISBN-13: 978-0887393914
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,018,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A work of courage and compassion, May 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia (Paperback)

This book offered me a chance to face a devastating period of human history with courage, compassion, and determination to make the world a better place. It tells the story of women and children who endured the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s and managed to rebuild their lives afterward. It includes the stories of two refugees who came to the United States as orphans, returning as young adults to help their country. In a series of personal narratives, the author lets these survivors tell their own stories in their own words, and there are accompanying photographs that give a wonderful added glimpse at their lives. Wagner also provides some brief but helpful political context for the suffering in Cambodia. Living as we are in a time of so much hatred and conflict and fear, Soul Survivors reaffirms the futility of violence and helped remind me of the possibility of redemption and reconciliation.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Soul Survivors" - A Truly Inspirational Work, June 26, 2002

By 

"janine1026" (Braintree, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia (Paperback)

"Soul Survivors" brought the horror of the Cambodian genocide to me in a way that the modern media never has. In a world where the news numbs society to mass murder and political unrest, "Soul Survivors" left me unable to remain numb to these atrocities. The book focuses on personal stories from a wide range of survivors of the genocide - stories that are essential to gaining a true understanding of how genocide affects a nation and culture. When I closed the book, I was filled with the kind of restless compassion that only comes from truly learning about the pain of another people and culture. "Soul Survivors" was an inspirational book and really made me want to change the world - something that every great book should do.

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Inspirational, June 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia (Paperback)

The stories are very inspiring, the photos are great, and the book itself is well done from the cover on.