Ten top books about Cambodia

Peter Fröberg Idling, born in 1972, is a writer and journalist. His first book, Pol Pot's Smile (2006) was a critically acclaimed work of literary nonfiction published in eight languages. He trained as a lawyer, and was working as legal advisor to an aid organization in Cambodia when the idea for his first book came about. His new novel, Song for an Approaching Storm, is also set in Cambodia.

One of his top ten books about Cambodia, as shared at the Guardian:

Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare by Philip Short

In David Chandler's excellent biography Brother Number One from 1993, the author has an eerie feeling of being watched by the elusive and smiling dictator while he is writing the book. A decade later, Philip Short manages to drag Pol Pot out of the shadows. Where the earlier biographer had a more academic approach, Short's book reads almost like a thriller at times. The research he has put into the book is in itself mindblowing, and the result constitutes a large and important step towards understanding the Cambodian tragedy.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue