In the tragic recent history of Cambodiaa past scarred by a long occupation by Vietnamese forces and by the preceding three-year reign of terror by the brutal Khmer Rougeno figure looms larger or more ominously than that of Pol Pot. As secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) since 1962 and as prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea (DK), he has been widely blamed for trying to destroy Cambodian society. By implementing policies whose effects were genocidal, he oversaw the deaths of more than one million of his nations people. The political career of Saloth Sar, better known by his nom de guerre Pol Pot, forms a critical but largely inaccessible portion of twentieth-century Cambodian history. What we know about his life is sketchy: a comfortable childhood, three years of study in France, and a short career as a schoolteacher preceded several yearsspent mostly in hidingas a guerrilla and the commander of the victorious army in Cambodias civil war. His career reached a climax when he and his associates, coming to power, attempted to transform their country along lines more radical than any attempted by a modern regime. Driven into hiding in 1979 by invading Vietnamese forces, Pol Pot maintained his leadership of a Khmer Rouge guerrilla army in exile, remaining a power and a threat. In this political biography, David P. Chandler throws light on the shadowy figure of Pol Pot. Basing his study on interviews and on a wide range of sources in English, Cambodian, and French, the author illuminates the ideas and behavior of this enigmatic man and his entourage against the background of postWorld War II events, providing a key to understanding this horrific, pivotal period of Cambodian history. In this revised edition, Chandler provides new information on the state of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge following the death of Pol Pot in 1997.
Brother Number One: A Political Biography Of Pol Pot
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About the Author
David Chandler, an emeritus professor of history at Monash University in Australia, is currently an adjunct Professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Horrific but enlightening about the history behind the slaughter of 1975-79
10 Oct 2011
By Rebecca C
Format:Paperback
Having backpacked through Cambodia and seen the horrific evidence of 1975-79 in the form of S-21 (Tuol Sleng) and The Killing Fields, I wanted to try and understand what could drive human beings to commit such horrific genocidal atrocities. I found this book hard going and very disturbing but at the same time very informative about the time frame in which this happened and the sequence of events. Of course, there is no switch that was evident within Pol Pot's life to drive him to do the horrific things he did and instructed others to do and that is what may be most disturbing of all - this man was a relatively well educated, relatively well travelled (some years in France) teacher who came back to his country and committed horrific atrocities in the name of a warped and crazy regime (including the brutal murder of the children he may well have taught). I found it very difficult to comprehend that this happened as recently as the 1970s but also that it was allowed to go on for 4 years before intervention (from the Vietnamese) in a supposed 'civilised' global era. I also still find it very difficult to understand why Pol Pot was never apprehended for his crimes (the UN had Pol Pot down as head of Cambodia until 1991?) and Brother Number Two (Nuon Chea) was only apprehended recently (around 2009?) having lived in what I can see as relative peace since being responsible for the killing of millions of Cambodians in 1975-1979. I would also recommend watching The Killing Fields and also a recent documentary 'True Stories: Voices from the Killing Fields' which features interviews with Nuon Chea (Brother Number Two) saying 'Who killed Cambodians?... Read more ›
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By bibliobiblio
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a difficult read. So much is unknown about Pol Pot. The author cannot uncover where Pol Pot was for much of his life, so I found the biographical part of the book patchy.
The book is definitely not for those with a passing interest in Pol Pot or Cambodia. This book is strictly for the student of this man, and the chaos that engulfed this part of the world during his lifetime.
Readers who have a passing interest in the man, and this period in history, should seek a general book on the subjects.
The book is definitely not for those with a passing interest in Pol Pot or Cambodia. This book is strictly for the student of this man, and the chaos that engulfed this part of the world during his lifetime.
Readers who have a passing interest in the man, and this period in history, should seek a general book on the subjects.
By commentator
Format:Paperback
This is THE landmark study on Pol Pot - and of the Cambodian Communist revolution and the Khmer Rouge tyranny. These three are too closely interwoven as they can be clearly separated. The supreme rule of the Khmer Rouge was secrecy, as emphasised time and again by Pol Pot and others, and this explains why there is so little known about Pol Pot, or Saloth Sar, the person, the individual. Possibly, with the current trials in Cambodia, we may learn more about the person as those who sat with him in the Politburo and other Angka gremia may share insights. But it is doubtful that these octogenarians will say more than what they already said, or actually know more about an individual of whom most of them probably were terrified when he was still alive and in power. Pol Pot himself cannot say anything anymore; he died in the late 1990s a miserable death and without repenting for his crime.
So Chandler is tracing the outward shape of Pol Pot's life as much as it can be traced: his upbringing and schooling; his studies in France; his double life as a teacher and party leader; then his tenure in power; eventually his return to the jungle. What went on in Pol Pot the human being, or what motivated him to act the way he eventually did, is left mostly to testimonies by others, inferences and speculation. But as said, this is not Chandler's fault for a world and a man where secrecy was everything and paranoia reigned supreme. Revolutionaries usually adopt aliases when they go underground. In this case, Saloth Sar became Pol Pot when he was about to emerging from obscurity, i.e., when the Communists took power and he became the country's leader. This alone highlights the obsession with secrecy.... Read more ›
So Chandler is tracing the outward shape of Pol Pot's life as much as it can be traced: his upbringing and schooling; his studies in France; his double life as a teacher and party leader; then his tenure in power; eventually his return to the jungle. What went on in Pol Pot the human being, or what motivated him to act the way he eventually did, is left mostly to testimonies by others, inferences and speculation. But as said, this is not Chandler's fault for a world and a man where secrecy was everything and paranoia reigned supreme. Revolutionaries usually adopt aliases when they go underground. In this case, Saloth Sar became Pol Pot when he was about to emerging from obscurity, i.e., when the Communists took power and he became the country's leader. This alone highlights the obsession with secrecy.... Read more ›
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By alimarcam
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a present for my husband so I cannot comment on the content of the book itself.
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