S. Schanberg's Beyond the Killing Fields(Beyond the Killing Fields: War Writings [Hardcover])2010

by Sydney Schanberg

Beyond the Killing War Writings [Hardcover] Sydney Schanberg (Author)

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Sydney Hillel Schanberg was an American journalist best known for his coverage of the war in Cambodia. Schanberg joined The New York Times as a journalist in 1959. He spent much of the early 1970s in Southeast Asia as a correspondent for the Times. He has been the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two George Polk awards, two Overseas Press Club awards, and the coveted Sigma Delta Chi prize for distinguished journalism.

Reviews

[Diocletian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cambodia, an Unnecessary War
This chapter of the book is devoted to Schanberg's news articles about Cambodia and notebook entries from the time, arranged in a chronological order. It allows readers to read the articles as they would have appeared in the New York Times back when they were written. The articles deal with every aspect of the Cambodian Civil War and its aftermath: The war crimes committed by all sides; mistaken bombings of allied Cambodian villages by US planes; the miserable conditions of refugees; the thousands of malnourished and starving children; the horrible conditions of the hospitals; and the rampant corruption of the Lon Nol regime. The last few stories in this chapter are devoted to Schanberg's personal experiences: being captured by the Khmer Rouge and nearly executed, life in the French embassy, and finally being taken to Thailand with all of the other foreigners stuck in the French embassy. 5/5
The Killing Fields
The only writing that this section contains is "The Death and Life of Dith Pran", about Schanberg and Pran's friendship leading up to the Khmer Rouge takeover, the massive guilt that Schanberg felt when he left Pran at the mercy of the Khmer Rouge, and the story of Schanberg's attempt to find Pran; however, the main theme in this is the story of Dith Pran's survival, escape and eventual reunion with his family and Schanberg, which is what the movie The Killing Fields was based off of. 5/5
East Pakistan Fights to Become Independent Bangladesh
This chapter, like the first, is a collection of Schanberg's articles written about the struggle for Bengali independence and the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War. It deals with the cruelty, suppression and "ethnic cleansing" of the Bengali people, particularly the Hindu minority, by the West Pakistanis; the suffering of the millions of refugees streaming over the border to India; the eventual intervention of India on Bangladesh's behalf; and finally, the horrible aftermath of the Pakistani massacres and how the US delayed India's receiving the peace offer by a day. 5/5
Vietnam, 1972
This chapter is composed of articles written from Schanberg's time in Vietnam, covering the "Easter Offensive" and the retreat of hundreds of thousands of refugees further south when a South Vietnamese unit breaks without even fighting the North Vietnamese, leaving the way open for the North Vietnamese to overwhelm the villages below the "Demilitarized Zone". The best story out of them all is the last one, covering the relationship between the American and South Vietnamese governments and the journalists stationed in the country. 5/5
Return to Cambodia: A Military Coup
This chapter is just one long article; it is a very good one however. It is about the terrible political atmosphere of Cambodia in the late 90s, with both Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh trying to gain influence with the Khmer Rouge to use it against the other. Also written about was the quest for justice against Pol Pot and other leaders of the Khmer Rouge, which since both Hun and Ranariddh wanted more troops to fight the other, was nearly pushed aside. 5/5
The Cover-Up of U.S. POWs Left Behind in Vietnam
Schanberg has amassed a large amount of evidence pointing to the fact that hundreds of POWs were left behind in Vietnam after the US withdrawal, and that despite this evidence, the US Government has never officially admitted to leaving them behind. The government has not only not admitted to it, but, led by men like John McCain, have been actively denying this and accusing people holding these views of being crazy and "conspiracy theorists". 5/5
The Bush Doctrine in Iraq
This short chapter is a criticism of George Bush and other neoconservative's rampant militaristic political views, and also an attack on the Project for the New American Century. The last article gives the reasons why some journalists, after experiencing all the horrors of war, still wish to continue covering them. 5/5

[J F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history recap until last 2-3 chapters. Then the drum-beating about U.S. foreign-war-backing surpassed my tolerance level as it smacked, slightly, of over-stating the obvious. Am glad I read this in a non-presidential election. Hopefully, mulling over the very-human accounts will inform my choices, at the polls, in 2016. Really did find the anthology format easy to follow.

[Jana Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting writings from a true war correspondent that hardly exists anymore. Mr. Schanberg's "The Death and Life of Dith Pran", published in the New York Times in 1980, was my introduction to the author and the horror of the Cambodian slaughter by the Kymer Rouge. I never forgot it.

Now with this publication, the author includes, not only that NYT article, but other insider stories of life inside enemy lines.

While these are not always polished and well edited articles and letters, they are real and poignant and worth reading as a testament to just how bad any military can get things wrong.

[Dean Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sobering account of three wars. In a sense an account of ‘Man’s inhumanity to man’ as well as documenting the lies told to justify involvement and crimes committed by both ‘sides’.
Ought to be read by every armchair war-monger.

[David Leemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot from reading this book.

[Shai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic writing. I was swept away and close to tears the whole time reading.