This is a gripping portrait of a country poised between peace & war. In the mid-1960s, Cambodia`s position within South East Asia was highly vulnerable. The Americans were embroiled in war in Vietnam, the Viet Cong were gaining clandestine control over Cambodian frontier areas, while the Cambodian government
- under the leadership of a charming but difficult Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk
- wanted nothing more than to preserve their neutrality & keep out of the war. Highly distrustful of any perceived foreign interference, the Cambodians had even rioted & attacked the American & British Embassies in Phnom Penh & their debris was still strewn on the streets when Leslie Fielding arrived in the city. Yet against this grim & dramatic backdrop, the daily round of international foreign policy somehow had to continue & ” Before the Killing Fields” offers a compelling & fascinating account of how this was achieved. As well as a political history this is also a portrait of an exotic but overlooked country at a critical stage in its development. Violence, intrigue & even the supernatural mingle with issues of day-to-day management & office morale. From diplomatic meetings conducted in opium dens & dancing lessons with beautiful princesses at the Royal Palace to candid portraits of the rest of the international community of Phnom Penh, ” Before the Killing Fields” is an illuminating insight into a lost world.