by Francois Bizot (Author), Francois Bizot (Author)
In 1971, on a routine outing through the Cambodian countryside, the young French scholar Francois Bizot was captured by the Khmer Rouge. Accused of being an agent of "American imperialism", he was chained and imprisoned. His captor, Douch, later responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, interviewed him at length; after three months of torturous deliberation, during which his every word was weighed and his life hung in the balance, he was released. No other Western prisoner survived. Four years later, the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh. Francois Bizot became the official intermediary between the ruthless conqueror and the terrified refugees behind the gate of the French embassy: a ringside seat to one of history's most appalling genocides.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 286
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Harvill Press
Published: 23 Jan 2003
ISBN 10: 1843430010
ISBN 13: 9781843430018
Book Overview: Written thirty years later, Fran ois Bizot's memoir of his experiences in the killing fields of Cambodia is, in the words of John le Carre, a contemporary classic .