The Khmer Rouge was in power for less than five years and more than half of those years were spent fighting against the Vietnamese. The first attack took the Vietnamese by surprise and the Khmer Rouge killed at least hundreds of Vietnamese villagers during their raid. Vietnam soon retaliated and for most of 1977, the two armies skirmished back and forth. Refugees as well as cadres on the execution list began to pour into Vietnam. Vietnam soon gained the upper hand in the East Zone, which led Pol Pot to believe that commanders of the East Zone conspired with the Vietnamese to bring him down. This led to a major purge, culminating in the collapse of the regime. But the most infamous legacy of the Khmer Rouge is genocide. The Khmer Rouge had been carrying out their "cleansing policy" ever since the first day they marched into the capital city on April 17, 1975. Moreover, their administration of the country was simplistic by modern administration standards and their military operations were too ambitious. Their record of almost four years in power was probably the worst in Cambodian history. Such a notorious regime then became the subject of much research by scholars and former diplomats in Cambodia, as well as by French nationals who stayed behind during the last few days of the Khmer Republic. Despite the large volume of research, however, there are still gaps in the literature. This book seeks to identify and fill those gaps.

"The Khmer Rouge took control in Cambodia in the 1970s. Its leaders wanted a return to a simpler, agrarian lifestyle, but the communist group's actions caused famines instead. The Khmer Rouge claimed to be a "party for peace," yet committed a genocide with a death toll estimated to be over one million. How did this guerrilla movement rise to power in the first place? This book provides a comprehensive yet concise narrative of the history of the Khmer Rouge, from its inception during the 1950s through its eventual reintegration into Cambodian society in 1998. The Khmer Rouge: Ideology, Militarism, and the Revolution That Consumed a Generation examines the entire organizational life of the Khmer Rouge, looking at it from both a societal and organizational perspective. The chapters cover each pivotal period in the history of the Khmer Rouge, explaining how extreme militarism, organizational dynamics, leadership policies, and international context all conspired to establish, maintain, and destroy the Khmer Rouge as an organization. The work goes beyond inspecting the actions of a few key leadership individuals to describe the interaction among different groups of elites as well as the ideologies and culture that formed the structural foundation of the organization." -- Publisher's description.