Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare

"Pol Pot" is a masterful book that comprehensively documents Pol Pots political life from his studies in Paris, to his down fall in the late 90's at the hands of his disgruntled, primary military leader, Mok. Philip Short evaluates Pol Pot's rise to power, and his short reign over Cambodia, from an unbiased and authoritative position, he shows the real reasons, from a historically Cambodian perspective, why the atrocities orchestrated under Pol Pot were committed. Short's focus in the book is the political evolution of what culminated into the CPK (Communist Party of Kampuchea), from Pol Pot's early influences during his overseas studies, to the political climate in Cambodia during Pol Pot's youth. The only point of contention I would note is probably a major one. The whole reason that I (and probably most people) decided to study Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge is because of the awful atrocities that were committed by them. And on this point I was very disappointed. Very little attention is focused on the carnage that was perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. Short himself seems shocked and appalled by the horrid acts, but he often fails to elucidate and elaborate for his readers about these things that he most abhors. Short does mention some of the suffering that the general population was subjected to, but only enough to `wet the reader's lips'. Maybe Short wished to only focus on the politics, which was, by itself, still fascinating, but I was left somewhat discontent and unsatisfied. I will now probably try and find another book which will quench my original `thirst' for the detail of the massacres, something that I wish I didn't have to do, and was addressed properly in this book. But overall this is a remarkable book that deals with the subject with a `cool head' and from an unbiased position, without slandering and abusing Pol Pot for the acts that he was responsible for. "Pol Pot" is written in a very engaging way, and Short does well to `spice-up' the somewhat boring early days of Pol Pot. Four Stars

Ironically Vietnam brought an end to this monster; when we left Vietnam, and Cambodia to fend for themselves! 😖

Very informative!