Description
Book SynopsisThe horrific torture and execution of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge during the 1970s is one of the century's major human disasters. This work examines the Khmer Rouge phenomenon by focusing on one of its key institutions, the secret prison outside Phnom Penh known by the code name 'S-21'.
Trade Review"In an effort to explain what happened inside Tuol Sleng (then known by the code name S-21), David Chandler, the preeminent historian of Cambodia, spent years examining the voluminous archives discovered in the compound when the Vietnamese seized power in Cambodia in 1979. He plumbed comparative materials on state-sponsored terror and sought insight in psychological studies of the human capacity to inflict pain.
Voices From S-21 is the wrenching and dispassionate result." * New York Times *
"Chandler presents a grisly but lucid historical accounting of S-21, the secret prison where at least 14,000 people were interrogated, tortured, forced to confess to counterrevolutionary crimes and executed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia." * Publishers Weekly *
"
Voices from S-21 contributes to a better understanding of the secretive and violent aspects of the paranoid Khmer Rouge regime and fills a gap in the literature on violence in Southeast Asia. . . . the book is timely in light of heightened interest in a permanent International Criminal Court to bring violent war criminals, like the Khmer Rouge, to justice." * American Historical Review *
"Books that give insights into the geopolitics, history and internal mechanics of the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge have their own significance. But this one . . . may be the most illuminating book yet on understanding Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge." * Cambodia Daily *
"It is Chandler’s persistent effort to get as close as possible to the minds and experiences of both the captives and captors that elevates his work."
* Japan Times *
"Based on archival resources Chandler himself had gathered over the years, as well as other pertinent material available in Cambodia and elsewhere, Chandler's book offers an engaging portrait of the inner workings and thoughts of those who spearheaded the genocidal campaign." * H-Genocide *
Table of ContentsPreface
1. Discovering S-21
2. S-21: A Total Institution
3. Choosing the Enemies
4. Framing the Questions
5. Forcing the Answers
6. Explaining S-21
Appendix. Siet Chhe’s Denial of Incest
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Photographs
