Book Description
"The Stones Cry Out is startlingly good as literature. It is also an important addition to a thin historical record. . . . Her account of the revolutionary rhetoric, set against the reality of what the revolutionaries were actually doing, is as macabre as any of the descriptions of bodies."--The Wall Street Journal

"This is a powerful and compelling story of terror, struggle and death sprinkled with moments of tenderness, written by a woman who writes not of politics but only of what she experienced."--New York Times Book Review

In 1975, Molyda Szymusiak (her adoptive name), the daughter of a high Cambodian official, was twelve years old and leading a relatively peaceful life in Phnom Penh. Suddenly, on April 17, Khmer Rouge radicals seized the capital and drove all its inhabitants into the countryside. The chaos that followed has been widely publicized, most notably in the movie The Killing Fields. Murderous brutality coupled with raging famine caused the death of more than two million people, nearly a third of the population. This powerful memoir documents the horror Cambodians experienced in daily life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

the most gut-wrenching historical account I've ever read
There are no words adequate to convey the effect this book had on me when I read it in 1986.It haunted me for years.I wanted everyone I knew to read it.

Just several years ago I met a woman whose entire family - her husband and all her children - died under the Khmer Rouge monsters.

Amazingly, after the stories Miss Szymusiak recounts: of the young girl who was killed for being too pretty, of those murdered for daring to exhibit signs of affection for one another, and of unspeakable tortures inflicted upon absolutely helpless and innocent people of all ages, the chapter which really drained my blood was the one detailing her witnessing the beginning of the purge.The author notes the young Communist cadres being themselves called in for interrogation and torture and disappearing one by one.

This is a chilling account of the darkest period in 20th Century history.

Treated worse than dogs
You need a strong stomach to read the grueling ordeal of a 12 year old girl in Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime.
The latter and his cronies turned a whole country into a concentration camp guided by the iron fist of a centrally planned economy which was based on rice production quotas.
Starvation and killing of whole families including babies were part of normal daily life. The author herself lost nearly all her family.
The slogan was 'be deaf and dump if you want to survive'.

Exceptionally, this book also relates the disturbing facts which happened in a Red Khmer camp in Thailand until one year after Pol Pot's defeat by the Vietnamese.

Molyda Szymusiak tells only the facts. She doesn't explain the overall picture of Pol Pot's regime, politically, socially, economically or internationally.
Therefore I highly recommend the eminent works of David Chandler as well as Philip Short's magisterial biography of Pol Pot (Saloth Sar).

This book shows painfully the disastrous consequences of a power grasp by ideological fanatics who created a one party state bureaucracy which wielded total uncontrolled power over the population.
This regime was a terrible shame for the left.

A very disturbing read.

Chilling and moving
My heart sank lower and lower with each successive chapter. This is certainly not a book one can read while couching comfortably on a sofa. If you are familiar with Cambodian history of the Khmer Rouge regime, this book is indeed a chilling read. But at the same time, one can't help feeling admiration for the author's fortitide in the face of unimaginable hardship and horror.

A child's account of her family's struggle to survive.
One of the earliest (1986) accounts from the survivors of the Pol Pot regime, "The Stones Cry Out" seems to have set the style and standard for another more recent child's-eye perspective on the same era,"When Broken Glass Floats".The minute details of everyday life,not abstract poltical assessments, form the basis for our childhoodmemories.The author's account carries an unvarnished realism which drawsthe reader into her film-like image of daily life under threat ofstarvation and execution.This is probably as close as a reader can cometo the truth of events in Cambodia during 1975-79.Oral histories such as"The Stones Cry Out" are perhaps the best way for survivors ofhuman rights abuses to indict the perpetrators.Sadly, tribunals driven byinternational politics are unlikely to have the same impact as the simpletestimony of a victimized child.Highly recommended reading for all thosewith an interest in human rights, Cambodia, and Southeast Asian culture.

A sobering look at man's inhumanity to man.
Actualy I would rate this 4 and 1/2 stars.

Having read"First they killed my father" by Loung Ung It would be difficult for me to review this book with out comparing it to Loung Ung's memoir.

Both areessentially the same story, a young upper middle class girl living in PhnomPhen in april of 1975 when thier life, family and happiness are torn fromthem by the khmer rouge.

Many of thier experinces are similar as youmight expect (long hours in forced labor, family deaths, witnessing murderect..) but each has a unique story of thier own.

The writing styles alsovary greatly and this is where Loung's"First they killed my Fatheris the better" book. Molyda tells her story in a very straight fowardmanner. Her discriptions of murder, torture and rotting corpses are alomostclinical in tone as if she is afaid to visit or express her real feelingsat the time (and who could realy blame her)we are giving only hints abouther family and life before April 17th 1975 (to be fair this may be in partto spare distant family members still in Cambodia from retalation)

InLoung's book however we are treated to two light hearted chaptersdiscribing her life in Phnom Pehn before April 17th 1975 this gives thereader a chance to feel they realy know her, her brother's, sisters andparents thier strengths and weakness'.

Loung's memoir is far moreemotional in tone and feeling leaving the reader almost gasping for air atpoints.

For those overly squimish that makes "The Stones CryOut" the better of the two books. It is also the better of the twobooks if your sole interest is the surrounding history of the killingfields.

But for those just wishing to read a great emotional book"first They killed My father" is the better choice but I wouldhighly recomend both to all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Insightful Analysis
Chandler, the most eminent scholar of Cambodia, has provide an easy to follow and insightful account of Cambodia's recent history. Whilst perhaps not designed for those with no base knowledge in Cambodian history, a read of the relevant section of a general Asian history book will provide all the background knowledge necessary.The Tragedy of Cambodian History traces not only the significant events since 1945 but also, through doing so, traces the lives of people such as Nuon Chea who were to become instrumental in the disastrous events from April 17, 1975.I would recommend this to be read before either of Kiernan's major works on the topic as they provide more facts which new readers are liable to get bogged down in.

Perfect for those who feel the need to understand one of the worst cases of man's inhumanity to man.

Very hard to follow and understand.Disappointing
I had to read "the tradedy of cambodian history" by David Chandler for a history course at my university.The class focuses on genocide in the 20th century so I was very interested in Chandler's bookbecause I knew little about the Cambodian Genocide by Pol Pot. So maybeit was because I went in with high expectations that made me feeldisappointed afterwards.I expected this book to not so much be"easy" to read, but I thought I would at least be able to followalong with the main points.This is where I first found fault. Chandleruses SO many names and dates that really seem irrelevant in the scheme ofthe book.It made it very distracting because I was unsure which names anddates were actually of importance.Usually authors use names and dates toemphasize a point or event.Chandler just uses them all the time for everysingle, tiny event.I understand history is made up of names and dates,but the larger picture of history is better to gain than the names anddates. So I was extremely distracted and that was the first thing that madeit hard to follow. The second reason I got lost easily was because Chandlerswitches back and forth between names.For example, Pol Pot was not PolPot's real name.So Chandler sometimes refers to Pol Pot by that name, orby his real name.He constantly switches back and forth with no realpattern.For a long time I could not figure out who this person was thatChandler kept talking about every now and then.Finally I figured out thatit was Pol Pot's other name. Despite these negative aspects, I didappreciate the last chapter which gives eyewitness accounts of theCambodian Genocide.It makes the entire book seem a little more personaland real.However, Chandler does not really delve deeply into the humanaspects of emotions and feelings about the genocide.He reports theeyewitnesses' accounts but does not add any personal information.So againI really did not find myself too attached to these people.I empathizedwith them, but their accounts did not stand out as much as some Holocaustones do.Overall I think if people are interested in just getting a basicoverview of Cambodian history, this would not be the book for them.I amsure this is a wonderful book for people like professors and scholars onCambodia, just not for average, or even above-average readers/students. Out of five stars I would have to give it a 1.8 if I was going on a strictpoint scale. ... Read more

Book Description
Cambodia underwent a triple transition in the 1990s: from war to peace, from communism to electoral democracy, and from command economy to free market. This book addresses the political economy of these transitions, examining how the much publicised international intervention to bring peace and democracy to Cambodia was subverted by the poverty of the Cambodian economy and by the state's manipulation of the move to the free market. This analysis of the material basis of obstacles to Cambodia's democratisation suggests that the long-established theoretical link between economy and democracy stands, even in the face of new strategies of international democracy promotion. ... Read more

Book Description
A detailed, scholarly reassessment of developments in Cambodia since December 25, 1978, when Vietnamese combat soldiers expelled the ruthless Pol Pot regime. Genocide by Proxy is an account of a country at war and of a people consigned to the role of pawn in world politics. Michael Haas contends that Cambodia became an arena for superpower conflict and thus could only find peace when the superpowers extricated themselves from the country. In providing perhaps the best explanation of the causes of the Cambodian tragedy, Haas exposes the narcissism that reigns when one state forces another to be its pawn. Haas' analysis entails a study in comparative foreign policies, an exercise that has theoretical merit for political scientists in search of paradigms of political behavior. Challenging the conventional view of Vietnam as the aggressor, this volume vindicates Vietnam's role in the Cambodian conflict, while at the same time revealing the treachery of U.S. foreign policy toward Cambodia. Much of the information in the book is based on Haas' own interviews with more than 100 key international figures and on primary documents. In an introductory chapter devoted to the basic facts of how genocide by proxy began, Haas sets forth the history of Pol Pot's rise and fall. The first three parts of the book, which deal with proxy war, proxy peace, and "deproxification," are related in the style of the film Rashomon and detail how each country perceived events and framed policies to use the conflict for its own ends. The final chapter suggests an alternative to this world of superpower chess games. The two appendices contain records of voting in the United Nations on Cambodia. Genocide by Proxy provides a truly fresh assessment of Cambodia that will prove invaluable in courses in Asian studies, international relations, and peace research. ... Read more