When The War Was Over: Cambodia And The Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition [Paperback]

Elizabeth Becker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1891620002 | ISBN-13: 978-1891620003 | Publication Date: November 10, 1998 | Edition: Revised edition

Award-winning journalist Elizabeth Becker started covering Cambodia in 1973 for The Washington Post, when the country was perceived as little more than a footnote to the Vietnam War. Then, with the rise of the Khmer Rouge in 1975 came the closing of the border and a systematic reorganization of Cambodian society. Everyone was sent from the towns and cities to the countryside, where they were forced to labor endlessly in the fields. The intelligentsia were brutally exterminated, and torture, terror, and death became routine. Ultimately, almost two million people—nearly a quarter of the population—were killed in what was one of this century's worst crimes against humanity.When the War Was Over is Elizabeth Becker's masterful account of the Cambodian nightmare. Encompassing the era of French colonialism and the revival of Cambodian nationalism; 1950s Paris, where Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot received his political education; the killing fields of Cambodia; government chambers in Washington, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Hanoi, and Phnom Penh; and the death of Pol Pot in 1998; this is a book of epic vision and staggering power. Merging original historical research with the many voices of those who lived through the times and exclusive interviews with every Cambodian leader of the past quarter century, When the War Was Over illuminates the darkness of Cambodia with the intensity of a bolt of lightning.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Elizabeth Becker's When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution is a heart-rending history of modern Cambodia--a state whose people have, in the last 30 years, endured war, political upheaval, international betrayal, and genocide. Beginning with the Khmer Rouge overthrow of the U.S.-backed Lon Nol regime in 1975, Becker examines the historical patterns of violence and authority within Cambodian culture that made the Khmer Rouge's slaughter of close to 2 million people possible.

Becker integrates interviews with Cambodian leaders and ordinary citizens with a penetrating analysis of the politics of the cold war and humanitarianism. For example, she follows the story of Mey Komphot, a banker, who, like millions of others, was displaced from his life in Phnom Penh and marched to a labor camp. She also explores how the United States, as well as many states within the United Nations, refused to acknowledge the forced departures and the killing in order to appease China's hunger for punishing Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia. By contrasting the concerns of states with those of people, Becker shows how the international order has repeatedly betrayed the people of Cambodia. When the War Was Over is more than just an authoritative account of the Cambodian Revolution; Becker's trenchant portrait of the dynamics of power and human suffering serves as a warning about how diplomatic imperatives can blunt the United Nations' ability to preserve human rights and life. --James Highfill

From the Publisher

"Burns with its own fire, the fire of a dedicated writer who witnessed the incomprehensible and worked long and hard to comprehend it. It is indispensible for understanding our times and the noble and terrible sides of modern man. It is a powerful and important book." (William Broyles, Jr., The Washington Post Book World) "When the War Was Over is an extraordinary synthesis of journalism and scholarship. There's a reportial immediacy to much of the book while at the same time it has the virtue of historical perspective. . . . This is an important, compelling, often touching book." (Strobe Talbott, author of Deadly Gambits) "Becker writes history as history should be written." (Financial Times)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 632 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; Revised edition edition (November 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891620002
• ISBN-13: 978-1891620003
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > History > Asia > Cambodia

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, January 24, 2000

By 

Andy Hughes (Ventura, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When The War Was Over: Cambodia And The Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition (Paperback)

A wonderful anecdotal account of the Khmer Rouge Kampuchea. Elizabeth Becker did a great job of researching the materials and wrote this book in an easy to read style. Don't get a wrong impression, because it is truly a gift to be able to write in an easy to read style and at the same time be very informative. Becker has this gift. I did a thesis paper on a topic inspired by this book. Becker wonderfully wove accounts of all aspects of lifestyles from various Cambodians prior to the takeover by Pol Pot and his Marxist thoeries, and then what happened to each and every one of them during the Khmer Rouge. I really got wrapped up in all of the peoples' accounts. Take the time to read this book, because it presents a shocking portrail of what happened in Cambodia

96 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Becker Vacillates Blame, September 23, 2000

By 

Joseph Pacelli (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When The War Was Over: Cambodia And The Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition (Paperback)

Elizabeth Becker vociferously condemns American policy towards China, as one major reason the world ignored Pol Pot's massive deportations and slaughter, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. Yet, it was Elizabeth Becker (along with many others in the antiwar U.S. media) in her Washington Post articles who mocked those who were trying to tell the world about the communist genocide. When Lon Nol came to Washington, D.C. in October 1978, asking for American aid in hopes of stopping the Khmer Rouge genocide against their own people, it was Elizabeth Becker who called his visit "an embarrassment." And two months later, Becker was invited to visit Pol Pot's Cambodia (one of very few journalists) where she eluded her eyes to Cambodia's destruction, and even wrote that Pol Pot's "system was working." Western academics and the liberal media denied the brutality of the Khmer Rouge before and after 1975. If Elizabeth Becker and others within the media did their job, instead of denouncing those who tried to tell us the truth before, during and after Pol Pot's communist struggle, history may have been very different.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic history of modern Cambodia, updated and revised., January 4, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: When The War Was Over: Cambodia And The Khmer Rouge Revolution, Revised Edition (Paperback)

Worth the price just for the detailed account of the conduct and aftermath of the less than totally successful $2 billion United Nations effort to bring peace and democracy to Cambodia. Becker's account of the December 1978 killing of Malcolm Caldwell is riveting. Her incorporation of the personal stories of victims of the Pol Pot regime's Tuol Sleng extermination center helps readers better understand the atmosphere of those terrible days. Readers wanting further detail on Tuol Sleng should read David Chandler's "Voices from S-21" and Vann Nath's "Cambodian Prison Portrait".