An edition of The gate (2002)

The gate

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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 22, 2019 | History
An edition of The gate (2002)

The gate

  • 0 Ratings
  • 2 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

"A literary and historical tour de force: what one man saw and did in a land of pristine beauty on the eve of one of the twentieth century's most barbaric spectacles." "In 1971, Francois Bizot was a young French scholar of Khmer pottery and Buddhist ritual working in rural Cambodia. Now, more than thirty years later, he has summoned up the unbearable memory of that moment, letting us see as never before those years leading inexorably to genocide. Perfectly recalled, indelibly written, The Gate recounts the nightmare of Bizot's arrest and captivity on suspicion of being an American spy, and his nearly miraculous survival as the only Westerner ever to escape a Khmer Rouge prison. It is the story, as well, of Bizot's unlikely friendship with his captor, Douch - a figure today better remembered as a ruthless perpetrator of the then-looming terror, about which Bizot tried, without success, to warn his government." "Bizot's experience to that point would itself have merited report. But upon his return to Cambodia four years later, chance ordained a second remarkable act in this drama. As the sole individual fluent in both French and Khmer, Bizot found himself playing the intermediary in a surreal standoff when the Communist-backed guerillas now ascendant, laid siege to the French Embassy compound in Phnom Penh. Finally it would fall to Bizot to lead the desperate retreat of the colonial population: here he recounts how he helped the remaining Westerners - and any Cambodians he could - to escape the doomed capital."--Jacket.

"A literary and historical tour de force: what one man saw and did in a land of pristine beauty on the eve of one of the twentieth century's most barbaric spectacles.".

"In 1971, Francois Bizot was a young French scholar of Khmer pottery and Buddhist ritual working in rural Cambodia. Now, more than thirty years later, he has summoned up the unbearable memory of that moment, letting us see as never before those years leading inexorably to genocide.

Perfectly recalled, indelibly written, The Gate recounts the nightmare of Bizot's arrest and captivity on suspicion of being an American spy, and his nearly miraculous survival as the only Westerner ever to escape a Khmer Rouge prison. It is the story, as well, of Bizot's unlikely friendship with his captor, Douch - a figure today better remembered as a ruthless perpetrator of the then-looming terror, about which Bizot tried, without success, to warn his government.".

"Bizot's experience to that point would itself have merited report. But upon his return to Cambodia four years later, chance ordained a second remarkable act in this drama. As the sole individual fluent in both French and Khmer, Bizot found himself playing the intermediary in a surreal standoff when the Communist-backed guerillas now ascendant, laid siege to the French Embassy compound in Phnom Penh.

Finally it would fall to Bizot to lead the desperate retreat of the colonial population: here he recounts how he helped the remaining Westerners - and any Cambodians he could - to escape the doomed capital."--BOOK JACKET.

Publish Date
Publisher
Knopf
Language
English
Pages
275

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The gate
The gate
2002, Knopf, Distributed by Random House
in English
Cover of: The gate
The gate
2002, Knopf
in English

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Book Details


Published in

New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
959.6042092
Library of Congress
DS554.8 .B6513 2003

The Physical Object

Pagination
xv, 275 p.
Number of pages
275

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL24737258M
Internet Archive
gate00bizo
ISBN 10
037541293X
ISBN 13
9780375412936
LCCN
2002069428
OCLC/WorldCat
229323553

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
July 22, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
October 8, 2017 Edited by MARC Bot merge duplicate works of 'The gate'
August 12, 2011 Edited by ImportBot add ia_box_id to scanned books
July 6, 2011 Created by ImportBot Imported from Internet Archive item record.