- Paperback: 544 pages
- Publisher: Cooper Square Publishers Inc.,U.S.; Revised edition (14 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 081541224X
- ISBN-13: 978-0815412243
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 14.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,467,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
In Sideshow, journalist Shawcross presents the first full-scale investigation of the secret and illegal war the United States fought with Cambodia from 1969 to 1973, paving the way for the Khmer Rouge massacres of the mid-70s.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
William Shawcross does an excellent job in describing US policy in and towards Cambodia right up to the take-over of the country by the Khmer Rouge.
Shawcross admits to not having been to the country, but he makes good use of hundreds of interviews and a rich supply of US Government documents to write a very good account of what happened to Cambodia during the Nixon and Ford Presidencies. He covers all relevant aspects of the issue. When I read the chapter on `The Advisor', one does get the impression that the National Security Advisor is a rather shady character.
The most interesting bit of the book is actually the Appendix, where Shawcross details the controversy the publication of his book has caused. In the first part Shawcross lists the inaccuracies in Kissinger's memoirs with regards to Cambodia and also appears to suggest that Kissinger's actions created the conditions for the Khmer Rouge to take over the country in 1975.
The second part of the Appendix is a copy of Kissinger's authorised response to `Sideshow', written by his aide Peter W. Rodman for the American Spectator in March 1981. I did not find his arguments terribly convincing, but he has the right to speak up. The third part of the Appendix is the author's response to Mr. Rodman and in the last part of the Appendix Mr. Rodman fires off a hate-mail-type letter. To me it read like the sort of rubbish you often hear from the propaganda departments of totalitarian states. In the late 1990s - if I am not mistaken - Kissinger had to admit that he lied in his memoirs after he was confronted with the original documents. That doesn't exactly add quality to Mr. Rodman's replies.
The very first page of the Appendix shows Kissinger trying to convince Prince Sihanouk to change his memory of certain events in Cambodian history presumably in a bid to make Kissinger appear in a better light. That conclusion is almost inescapable.
The only complaint about `Sideshow' I do have is that the book can be very hard to get hold off.
Shawcross admits to not having been to the country, but he makes good use of hundreds of interviews and a rich supply of US Government documents to write a very good account of what happened to Cambodia during the Nixon and Ford Presidencies. He covers all relevant aspects of the issue. When I read the chapter on `The Advisor', one does get the impression that the National Security Advisor is a rather shady character.
The most interesting bit of the book is actually the Appendix, where Shawcross details the controversy the publication of his book has caused. In the first part Shawcross lists the inaccuracies in Kissinger's memoirs with regards to Cambodia and also appears to suggest that Kissinger's actions created the conditions for the Khmer Rouge to take over the country in 1975.
The second part of the Appendix is a copy of Kissinger's authorised response to `Sideshow', written by his aide Peter W. Rodman for the American Spectator in March 1981. I did not find his arguments terribly convincing, but he has the right to speak up. The third part of the Appendix is the author's response to Mr. Rodman and in the last part of the Appendix Mr. Rodman fires off a hate-mail-type letter. To me it read like the sort of rubbish you often hear from the propaganda departments of totalitarian states. In the late 1990s - if I am not mistaken - Kissinger had to admit that he lied in his memoirs after he was confronted with the original documents. That doesn't exactly add quality to Mr. Rodman's replies.
The very first page of the Appendix shows Kissinger trying to convince Prince Sihanouk to change his memory of certain events in Cambodian history presumably in a bid to make Kissinger appear in a better light. That conclusion is almost inescapable.
The only complaint about `Sideshow' I do have is that the book can be very hard to get hold off.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a superb account of how US escalation of the Vietnam conflict led to the destruction of Cambodia and how the extent of US cross-border bombing was illegally concealed by the Nixon administration. It is remarkable that practically all of the heavyweight histories of the Vietnam war make little mention of this aspect of the conflict.
In addition to extensively referenced details of the history, the appendices to the book contain numerous literary critiques of 'Sideshow' that appeared in the popular press. These make fascinating reading and several defensive pieces originating from those close to Kissinger, together with the author's refutation, read like the closing arguments from high-court barristers.
For a coherent and comprehensive guide to a much neglected aspect and rather shameful episode in the US involvement in Indochina, read this book.
In addition to extensively referenced details of the history, the appendices to the book contain numerous literary critiques of 'Sideshow' that appeared in the popular press. These make fascinating reading and several defensive pieces originating from those close to Kissinger, together with the author's refutation, read like the closing arguments from high-court barristers.
For a coherent and comprehensive guide to a much neglected aspect and rather shameful episode in the US involvement in Indochina, read this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Written in the days before Shawcross became an apologist for Murdoch and a biographer for the Queen Mother, this account of the causes and effects of the spreading of the Vietnam conflict into Cambodia is a devastatingly cool, but angry, look at how a major power can destroy a poor country for what? Tactical necessity? Hubris?
By launching first bombing, and then invading, the North Vietnamese strongholds on the Cambodian border many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of American (and, lest we forget, Vietnamese) lives were saved. Unfortunately it also helped tip Cambodia into a civil war which claimed hundreds of thousands of Cambodian lives and paved the way for the eventual takeover of the Khmer Rouge who, with their obscene social engineering experiments (dreamt up in the Universities and coffee-shops of Paris), led to the deaths of 1 million ? 2 million? Cambodians. Oh, and it was illegal according to both US and International law.
Shawcross is in no doubt who was responsible: Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. Nixon gets a bit of a pass as he was, well, Richard Nixon, a delusional paranoiac, who felt he had to prove how `tough' he was both to himself and the rest of the world. Kissinger gets no such pass. Obviously an intelligent man, Kissinger was interested in himself and cared not a jot for others. From toadying to his boss, flattering reporters he thought might be helpful, to plotting against his `rivals', Laird and Rogers, and bullying his subordinates, Kissinger's main interest was Kissinger. The fact that his best-remembered saying is `Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac' tells you all you need to know about him.
My copy is the original and so the full extent of the `Killing Field' horrors was still to be revealed; also I understand there is an attempt by Kissinger in later editions to justify his actions. Good luck. An outstanding book which is, unfortunately, very hard to get hold of these days - worth the effort.
By launching first bombing, and then invading, the North Vietnamese strongholds on the Cambodian border many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of American (and, lest we forget, Vietnamese) lives were saved. Unfortunately it also helped tip Cambodia into a civil war which claimed hundreds of thousands of Cambodian lives and paved the way for the eventual takeover of the Khmer Rouge who, with their obscene social engineering experiments (dreamt up in the Universities and coffee-shops of Paris), led to the deaths of 1 million ? 2 million? Cambodians. Oh, and it was illegal according to both US and International law.
Shawcross is in no doubt who was responsible: Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. Nixon gets a bit of a pass as he was, well, Richard Nixon, a delusional paranoiac, who felt he had to prove how `tough' he was both to himself and the rest of the world. Kissinger gets no such pass. Obviously an intelligent man, Kissinger was interested in himself and cared not a jot for others. From toadying to his boss, flattering reporters he thought might be helpful, to plotting against his `rivals', Laird and Rogers, and bullying his subordinates, Kissinger's main interest was Kissinger. The fact that his best-remembered saying is `Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac' tells you all you need to know about him.
My copy is the original and so the full extent of the `Killing Field' horrors was still to be revealed; also I understand there is an attempt by Kissinger in later editions to justify his actions. Good luck. An outstanding book which is, unfortunately, very hard to get hold of these days - worth the effort.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
datailed research but politically bias
This is far and away the best book on the Cambodian campaign waged by Nixon during the Vietnam War. It contains meticulous research, a wealth of data and some good insights. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Carno Polo
A tangled web
This book relates history from 40 years ago and was written up 30 years ago. It still reads like a piece of fiction. Read more
Published 10 months ago by G. Parker
"Cambodia was not a mistake; it was a crime...
... The world is diminished by the experience." William Shawcross concludes his excellent book with the previous succinct summation of his 400 plus page indictment of the policies... Read more
Published 16 months ago by John P. Jones III
complete unbiased view of Cambodia and the Vietnam War
If you have an interest in the Vietnam War and the Kmer Rouge with the USA involvement then this is the only book you need to read
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by R. Herron
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