The History of a Nightmare
An extraordinary and brilliant book ... Like a clever and determined detective, Short has exposed the secrets, knitting together a story which it once seemed would never be told. The result is horrifying, but it must be read. * Scotland on Sunday * A superb, chilling, yet human portrait of a monster * Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Telegraph * A model of research ... an intelligent and compassionate account of the Cambodian nightmare * Spectator * His weighty book, which is as much a history of modern Cambodia as a biography of the man who shaped it, [is written with] with great discretion and sensitivity ... As well as a model of research, this is an intelligent and compassionate account of the Cambodian nightmare. * The Spectator * 'The first full biography of the man who led Cambodia into darkness.' - Sue Baker * Publishing News * Like a clever and determined detective, Short has exposed the secrets ... The result is horrifying, but it must be read * Scotland on Sunday * Short has written the definitive account of the nightmarish regime of 1975-1978, responsible for the deaths of some 1.5 million Cambodians. * Contemporary Review * Brings clear thinking to the big questions of blame * Sunday Times * Short succeeds in building a complete, compelling portrait of the man * Herald * Comprehensive and eloquent biography of a monster * Literary Review * Short unerringly broadens the inquiry to the point where serious history begins, and serious judgements can be made * Financial Times * Short's brilliantly detailed account is a salutary one * Sunday Herald * Riveting * Scotsman * Philip Short has done a spectacularly efficient job of describing what happened, and how * Economist * Exhaustive and authoritative * Times Literary Supplement * Short has made a Herculean effort to reconstruct the past. * Telegraph, Robert Colville. * The result is a searching account * Sunday Times *
Philip Short was for many years a foreign correspondent for the BBC, and now lives and writes in southern France. He first encountered Pol Pot in Beijing in 1977. His last book, Mao: A Life, has been hailed as the definitive biography of the founder of modern China.