Cambodian authority David Chandler produced the first book to take advantage of the archives from Pol Pot's secret prison in Phnom Penh where more than 14,000 men, women and children were incarcerated, tortured and killed in a demented effort to cleanse the country of its political enemies.

I've read plenty of books on Pol Pot, along with many other brutal dictators and leaders of the 20th century, and I've read and seen pictures of some of the atrocities that took place during that century, but even then, this book is still pretty damn disturbing and it can take a strong stomach for some to wade through this. Well researched and written -- very disturbing material. ( )

The author seems to care more about talking about how he got his sources for the book than about the actual subject matter. Also he translates every fifth word into Cambodian and puts it into parenthesis, which is annoying. There really aren't too many voices either. Plus it's published by Berkely University Press...the same Berkeley university that sent care packages of donated US flour to America's enemy, North Viet Nam during wartime. Perhaps if they had helped the American war effort instead of being traitorous, S-21 would never even had happened? ( )