Bibliography of the Cambodian genocide

This is a bibliography of the Cambodian genocide. Bibliography contains academic level English language books (including translations) and journal articles.

The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge under the general secretaryship of Pol Pot. It resulted in the deaths of approximately 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, around 25% of Cambodia's population in 1975 ( 7.8 million).

Works listed here are cited in the notes or bibliographies of scholarly sources. Each is published by an academic or major press, written by a recognized expert, or substantially reviewed in scholarly journals; borderline cases are omitted. A selection of primary sources are included. Many of the books below carry their own bibliographies; see the Further reading section for other bibliographies, and the External links section for historical sites, academic sites, and museums.

Citations follow APA style. Book have citations to academic journal or mainstream published reviews when available. For books only partly about the subject, relevant chapter or section titles are provided when useful and available. Translators of the original-language edition are included when possible. In cases where a title or name has appeared with more than one English spelling, the most recent published form is used and a footnote documents any earlier title under which the work appeared.

General histories

Becker, E. (1986). When the war was over: The voices of Cambodia's revolution and its people. Simon and Schuster. Chandler, D. P. (1991). The tragedy of Cambodian history: Politics, war, and revolution since 1945. Yale University Press. Chandler, D. P. (2008). A history of Cambodia (4th ed.). Westview Press. Kiernan, B. (1985). How Pol Pot came to power: A history of communism in Kampuchea, 1930–1975. Verso. Kiernan, B. (1996). The Pol Pot regime: Race, power, and genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–79. Yale University Press. Vickery, M. (1984). Cambodia 1975–1982. George Allen and Unwin.

Biographies

Chandler, D. P. (1999). Brother number one: A political biography of Pol Pot (Rev. ed.). Westview Press. Dunlop, N. (2006). The lost executioner: A journey to the heart of the killing fields. Walker. Mehta, H. C., & Mehta, J. B. (1999). Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia. Graham Brash. Osborne, M. (1994). Sihanouk: Prince of light, prince of darkness. University of Hawai'i Press. Short, P. (2005). Pol Pot: Anatomy of a nightmare. Henry Holt.

The Khmer Rouge regime

Carney, T. M. (1977). Communist party power in Kampuchea (Cambodia): Documents and discussion. Cornell University Department of Asian Studies. Chandler, D. P. (1976). The constitution of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia): The semantics of revolutionary change. Pacific Affairs, 49(3), 506–515. Chandler, D. P., & Kiernan, B. (Eds.). (1983). Revolution and its aftermath in Kampuchea: Eight essays. Yale University Southeast Asia Studies. Chandler, D. P., Kiernan, B., & Boua, C. (Eds.). (1988). Pol Pot plans the future: Confidential leadership documents from Democratic Kampuchea, 1976–1977. Yale University Southeast Asia Studies. Chandler, D. P. (1999). Voices from S-21: Terror and history in Pol Pot's secret prison. University of California Press. Cunha, M. P. e, Clegg, S., Rego, A., & Lancione, M. (2012). The organization (Angkar) as a state of exception: The case of the S-21 extermination camp, Phnom Penh. Journal of Political Power, 5(2), 279–299. Etcheson, C. (1984). The rise and demise of Democratic Kampuchea. Westview Press. Frieson, K. (1988). The political nature of Democratic Kampuchea. Pacific Affairs, 61(3), 405–427. Heder, S. R. (2004). Cambodian communism and the Vietnamese model: Vol. 1. Imitation and independence, 1930–1975. White Lotus Press. Jackson, K. D. (Ed.). (1989). Cambodia, 1975–1978: Rendezvous with death. Princeton University Press. Kiernan, B., & Boua, C. (Eds.). (1982). Peasants and politics in Kampuchea, 1942–1981. Zed Press. Kiernan, B. (1996). The Pol Pot regime: Race, power, and genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–79. Yale University Press. Locard, H. (2004). Pol Pot's little red book: The sayings of Angkar. Silkworm Books. Locard, H. (2005). State violence in Democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979) and retribution (1979–2004). European Review of History, 12(1), 121–143. Locard, H. (Ed. & Trans.). (2023). Jungle heart of the Khmer Rouge: The memoirs of Phi Phuon, Pol Pot's Jarai aide-de-camp, and the role of tribal minorities in the Cambodian revolution. NIAS Press. McIntyre, K. (1996). Geography as destiny: Cities, villages and Khmer Rouge orientalism. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 38(4), 730–758. Path, K., & Kanavou, A. (2015). Converts, not ideologues? The Khmer Rouge practice of thought reform in Cambodia, 1975–1978. Journal of Political Ideologies, 20(3), 304–332. Ponchaud, F. (1978). Cambodia: Year zero (N. Amphoux, Trans.). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. (Original work published 1977) Pribble, S. (2023). The barter economy of the Khmer Rouge labor camps. Routledge. Slocomb, M. (2006). Chikreng rebellion: Coup and its aftermath in Democratic Kampuchea. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 16(1), 59–72. Tyner, J. A. (2008). The killing of Cambodia: Geography, genocide and the unmaking of space. Ashgate. Tyner, J. A., & Rice, S. (2015). To live and let die: Food, famine, and administrative violence in Democratic Kampuchea, 1975–1979. Political Geography, 48, 1–10. Tyner, J. A. (2017). From rice fields to killing fields: Nature, life, and labor under the Khmer Rouge. Syracuse University Press. Tyner, J. A. (2019). The nature of revolution: Art and politics under the Khmer Rouge. University of Georgia Press.

Victims

Amer, R. (1994). The ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia: A minority at risk?. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 16(2), 210–238. Bruckmayr, P. (2006). The Cham Muslims of Cambodia: From forgotten minority to focal point of Islamic internationalism. American Journal of Islam and Society, 23(3), 1–23. Clayton, T. (1998). Building the new Cambodia: Educational destruction and construction under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–1979. History of Education Quarterly, 38(1), 1. Ehrentraut, S. (2011). Perpetually temporary: Citizenship and ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34(5), 779–798. Harris, I. (2005). Cambodian Buddhism: History and practice. University of Hawai'i Press. Harris, I. (2012). Buddhism in a dark age: Cambodian monks under Pol Pot. University of Hawai'i Press. Jacobs, R. P. (2022). Married by the revolution: Forced marriage as a strategy of control in Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Journal of Genocide Research, 24(3), 357–379. Kiernan, B. (1986). Kampuchea's ethnic Chinese under Pol Pot: A case of systematic social discrimination. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 16(1), 18–29. Kiernan, B. (1988). Orphans of genocide: The Cham Muslims of Kampuchea under Pol Pot. Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 20(4), 2–33. Kiernan, B. (2001). The ethnic element in the Cambodian genocide. In D. Chirot & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Ethnopolitical warfare: Causes, consequences, and possible solutions (pp. 83–91). American Psychological Association. Kiernan, B. (2021). The Pol Pot regime's simultaneous war against Vietnam and genocide of Cambodia's ethnic Vietnamese minority. Critical Asian Studies, 53(3), 342–358. LeVine, P. (2010). Love and dread in Cambodia: Weddings, births, and ritual harm under the Khmer Rouge. NUS Press. Marston, J., & Guthrie, E. (Eds.). (2004). History, Buddhism, and new religious movements in Cambodia. University of Hawai'i Press. Mowell, B. D. (2021). Religious communities as targets of the Khmer Rouge genocide. In The Routledge handbook of religion, mass atrocity, and genocide (pp. 195–204). Routledge. Osman, Y. (2002). Oukoubah: Justice for the Cham Muslims under Democratic Kampuchea regime. Documentation Center of Cambodia. Rashid, A. (2023). Gender and genocide in Cambodia: Surviving Khmer Rouge. Routledge. Thun, T., & Duong Keo. (2021). Ethnic Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge: The genocide and race debate. Critical Asian Studies, 53(3), 325–341. Tyner, J. A., & Molana, H. H. (2020). Ideologies of Khmer Rouge family policy: Contextualizing sexual and gender-based violence during the Cambodian genocide. Genocide Studies International, 13(2), 168–189.

Aftermath

Amer, R. (1990). The United Nations and Kampuchea: The issue of representation and its implications. Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 22(3), 52–60. Chan, S. (2004). Survivors: Cambodian refugees in the United States. University of Illinois Press. Clymer, K. (2004). The United States and Cambodia, 1969–2000: A troubled relationship. RoutledgeCurzon. de Walque, D. (2005). Selective mortality during the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia. Population and Development Review, 31(2), 351–368. de Walque, D. (2006). The socio-demographic legacy of the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia. Population Studies, 60(2), 223–231. Ea Meng-Try. (1981). Kampuchea: A country adrift. Population and Development Review, 7(2), 209. Grasse, D. (2024). State terror and long-run development: The persistence of the Khmer Rouge. American Political Science Review, 118(1), 195–212. Heuveline, P. (1998). 'Between one and three million': Towards the demographic reconstruction of a decade of Cambodian history (1970–79). Population Studies, 52(1), 49–65. Heuveline, P. (2001). Approaches to measuring genocide: Excess mortality during the Khmer Rouge period. In D. Chirot & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Ethnopolitical warfare: Causes, consequences, and possible solutions (pp. 93–108). American Psychological Association. Heuveline, P., & Poch, B. (2007). The phoenix population: Demographic crisis and rebound in Cambodia. Demography, 44(2), 405–426. Heuveline, P. (2015). The boundaries of genocide: Quantifying the uncertainty of the death toll during the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia (1975–79). Population Studies, 69(2), 201–218. Kiernan, B. (2003). The demography of genocide in Southeast Asia: The death tolls in Cambodia, 1975–79, and East Timor, 1975–80. Critical Asian Studies, 35(4), 585–597. Metzl, J. F. (1996). Western responses to human rights abuses in Cambodia, 1975–80. Macmillan. Neupert, R. F., & Prum, V. (2005). Cambodia: Reconstructing the demographic stab of the past and forecasting the demographic scar of the future. European Journal of Population, 21(2–3), 217–246. Shawcross, W. (1984). The quality of mercy: Cambodia, holocaust and modern conscience. Simon and Schuster. Um, K. (2015). From the land of shadows: War, revolution, and the making of the Cambodian diaspora. New York University Press. Williams, T., & Duong Keo. (2024). Counting tigers: Estimating the number of Khmer Rouge during Democratic Kampuchea. Journal of Genocide Research, 26(3), 307–327.

People's Revolutionary Tribunal

De Nike, H. J., Quigley, J., & Robinson, K. J. (Eds.). (2000). Genocide in Cambodia: Documents from the trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary. University of Pennsylvania Press. Gutman, T. H. (2015). Cambodia, 1979: Trying Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide. In K. Sellars (Ed.), Trials for international crimes in Asia (pp. 167–190). Cambridge University Press. Selbmann, F. (2016). The 1979 trial of the People's Revolutionary Tribunal and implications for ECCC. In S. M. Meisenberg & I. Stegmiller (Eds.), The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia: Assessing their contribution to international criminal law (pp. 77–102). T.M.C. Asser Press.

Khmer Rouge tribunal

Bernath, J. (2016). 'Complex political victims' in the aftermath of mass atrocity: Reflections on the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia. International Journal of Transitional Justice, 10(1), 46–66.