Customer Reviews

Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia

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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.

"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.

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