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Pol Pot
Anatomy Of A Nightmare
by Philip Short


8.0

based on 16 reviews
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based on 2 votes
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Short examines the life of the Khmer Rouge leader, who permitted more than a million Cambodians to die (either through starvation or execution) during his three-and-a-half-year rule.

Henry Holt and Co., 560 pages
02/08/2005
$30.00

ISBN: 0805066624

Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs
History

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Booklist Bryce Christensen

Deeply unsettling, Short's probing analysis reveals how the loftiest of political ideals can become the justification for the cruelest brutality. A chilling portrait. [15 Dec 2004, p.703]

Kirkus Reviews

A superbly wrought, richly nuanced study in evil, though more likely to attract discussion for its controversial conclusion than its careful rendering of its murderous subject.

Library Journal John F. Riddick

A well-written narrative possessing both shocking detail and thoughtful analysis. [1 Dec 2004, p.138]

Publishers Weekly

Though daunting in length, Short's book offers a copiously well-researched and surprisingly accessible portrait of Pol that will prove indispensable to anyone interested in the subject.

Houston Chronicle Chris Patsilelis

A shocking and groundbreaking work of history. It is also a heartbreaking chronicle of human tragedy. For any serious student of world history, this is an indispensable book.

The New York Times William Grimes

Mr. Short is judicious in describing the atrocities and myriad insanities of Pol Pot's regime. He does not catalog. A few chilling details, expertly deployed, do the necessary work.

The Economist

Short, who wrote a good book about Mao's China, has now done a spectacularly efficient job of describing what happened, and how.

New York Review Of Books James Fenton

Short has done extremely well, I think, to put together as much information as there is here about Pol Pot. Nevertheless, we cannot help sometimes wondering how to use the evidence we are given -- or whether indeed a given piece of evidence is of any value at all.

The New Yorker

Short does a good job on the political context of Pol Pot’s rise, on his Buddhist influences, and on his gift for subterfuge.

Christian Science Monitor Clayton Jones

While the 1984 movie "Killing Fields" and previous books on the Khmer Rouge have kept memories of those horrors before the world's conscience, nothing compares to the journalistic detail that Short provides here in 446 pages of narrative and some 200 more of footnotes.

Daily Telegraph William Shawcross

By assembling first-hand accounts of the killers and their aides, alongside the testimony of the victims, Short has created a terrifying narrative of destruction, which includes new detail about the paranoia, the unspeakable cruelty and the day-to-day banality of the lives of the Khmer Rouge leaders.

The New York Times Book Review William T. Vollmann

[Short's] text sparkles with shrewdly plausible inferences mortared into a compelling narrative... His account of Pol Pot's final two decades is of exceptional interest.

Boston Globe Elizabeth Becker

[Short's] answer is to blame Cambodian culture itself and the Buddhist faith practiced by Cambodians -- a new version of blaming the victim... Oddly, Short places very little blame on the totalitarian nature of communism.

Chicago Tribune Scott McLemee

No matter how you look at it, we bear some responsibility for the demon king.

Los Angeles Times Warren I. Cohen

Short provides rich detail on the minutiae of Cambodian politics. Regrettably, his prodigious research and the flood of his narrative overwhelm Short's portrait of Pol Pot and his effort to explain how the Communist party leader became such a monster.

Washington Post Nayan Chanda

Short goes a long way toward telling us who Pol Pot was; unfortunately, it is marred by superficial generalizations about Cambodian culture and a bizarre attempt to exonerate the Khmer Rouge of genocide.

The average user rating for this book is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Riley M gave it a6:
This book offers exceptional insight into Cambodian history, revealing vital background information which sheds light on the causes, the atrocities committed, and the role of multiple actors. However, Short's broad assertions that Cambodian culture or some national pysche made the atrocities inevitable are offensive and misleading. Does Short mean to tell us that culture is static unmoveable? Apparently, "they," or "the nation as a whole"(p.13) are reluctant to asses "their" complicity, as if an entire nation's mindset can be determined. Although Short states no "genetic predisposition to violence," he ponders what led "Cambodian socitey" as a whole to allow "appalling cruelities seemingly without conscience of the enormity of their acts and certianly without remorse." (all qutoes from p.13). His research, detail, and stories are all excellent, but his broad sweeping generaliztions about "Cambodian society" lead me to believe his concept or notion of culture or scoiety is greatly flawed.

Louis G gave it a10:
A wise, elegantly written tale of one of the most important figures in contemporary Southeast Asian history. Short scrupulously traces the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge against the background of Cambodian history and culture and the wider saga of western involvement in that fascinating region. It is not a particularly edifying story, but Short successfully brings it to life with wit, verve,and compassion.

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Pol Pot Anatomy Of A Nightmare by Philip Short

Pol Pot
Anatomy Of A Nightmare
by Philip Short