After the Khmer Rouge embarked on a revolution in 1975 that brought unprecedented terror and destruction to Cambodia, Elizabeth Becker, who covered the country for The Washington Post, was one of two American journalists allowed to return. When her visit ended with the murder of a fellow Western observer, Becker resolved to tell what happened after the revolution. In this account, often told in the words of those who miraculously escaped, Becker captures the essence of a nightmare: a capital city emptied, with everyone sent to the fields; the intelligentsia of the old society systematically...

In this "meticulously reported and often disturbing expose of the travel industry." (The New York Times Book Review), Elizabeth Becker describes the dimensions of this industry and its huge effect on the world economy, the environment, and our culture.

Employing one out of twelve people in the world, the travel and tourism industry exploded at the end of the Cold War. In 2012 the number of tourists traveling the world reached one billion. Now everything can be packaged as a tour: with the high cost of medical care in the U.S., Americans are booking a vacation and an operation in...