When the War Was Over

View other editions of When the War Was Over.
View books by Elizabeth Becker.

Good journalistic work provides an interesting read... - Rated
...albeit the fact that the book is a little confusing and/or repetitive at times. Unfortunately, the book also terribly lacks detailed maps of Cambodia and the surrounding countries, especially as there are numerous references to precise places throughout the text.

An unhappy travel guide to a little-understood country - Rated
Becker's book is based on her account of her three-week return to Cambodia in 1978 in the company of Malcolm Caldwell, the British economist, and Richard Dudman, another US journalist. The actual account of the trip is really the only part of the book worth reading. Becker's understanding of the revolution is slight and of the ideology of the Democratic Kampuchea state, almost non-existent. Worth getting hold of for the photographs of life in DK, of which there are very few available; but if you are after a history of the revolution and the state of DK then there are several other much, much better works - Vickery, Kiernan, Chandler, Boua have all written or edited much more comprehensive, detailed and fair-minded judgements than Becker's limited piece of journalistic impressionism.

Cambodia - Rated
One of the few books around that balance a countries political past and the effects it had on the people who were cuaght up in the atrocities. If you only read one book about Cambodian history, this is the one.

Khmer's and the Red Khmers - Rated
After my travels to Cambodia, visiting the Killing fields and what not, and speaking to the Khmers about the Khmer Rouge, I had this horrible vision of what the KR may have been like. After reading this brilliantly penned book, and given the chance to make a judgement from a text written from neither side, I have found the KR to have a spirit the Khmers in Phnom Phen would never speak of. It's just unfortunate that they were led by a man such as Pol Pot. A great read, with the perfect mix of personal experiences from the author, individual's stories, and political happenings, right until the last chapter, when things drag out and get a little too detailed. This IS the book to read on the Cambodian Revolution, not just because it seems to be the only one out there, but because it is a damn good book.

The definitive history of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal rule - Rated
After seeing the killing fields of Cheoung Ek and the torture centre of Tuol Sleng, I needed to know what caused this madness. Now I understand.