Cambodia–“Land of Smiles”–is a beautiful country with a very friendly and welcoming population. In my first visit to the country, the smiles and laughter (of the children, especially) were infectious and a many points in my journey, it was hard to think that I was not in paradise.
Yet this is a country and people that have been terrorized through war and oppression by both foreign and domestic powers. If you are not familiar with the atrocities and horrors this country has had to endure, I strongly urge you to educate yourself. If you’re short on time you can skim a wikipedia article and if you don’t like to read, you could at least watch “The Killing Fields” movie.
There are many books on the subject, but a few of the ones I read include (I have not included links, though you can track them down wherever you get your books):
- When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution, by Elizabeth Becker (PublicAffairs, 1998) – Journalist Elizabeth Becker covered Cambodia for The Washington Post and writes about Cambodia’s struggles from French Colonialism through the death of Pol Pot.
- When Broken Glass Floats, Chanrithy Him (W.W. Norton Company, 2000) – Just a child when the Khmer Rouge came to power, she recounts her experiences surviving (barely) the years under Pol Pot.
- Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls and Ganja, Amit Gilboa (Asia Books, 1998) – a look at the post-war debauchery and corruption in Cambodia’s capital city as floods of foreigners with money swoop in to exploit a vulnerable country.
I read another book with “Year Zero” in the title, but all these years later as I searched the internet for it, I couldn’t find it. There are a lot of books out there–with varying degrees of quality–but please find a book or seek out a documentary to learn more about Cambodia’s history.