So sharp with pain that when I read it, the words plunged into me like a knife

- Jon Swain, Sunday Times

There can be absolutely no doubt about the innate power of [Ung's] story, the passion with which she tells it or its enduring importance

Washington Post Book World

Ung's memoir should serve as a reminder that some history is best not left just to historians but to those left behind when the terror ends

Booklist

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I was deeply affected by Loung’s book. It deepened my understanding of how children experience war and are affected by the emotional memory of it

Angelina Jolie Pitt

A major film, co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie

Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and being cheeky to her parents.

When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Loung's family fled their home and were eventually forced to disperse to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier while her brothers and sisters were sent to labour camps. The surviving siblings were only finally reunited after the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and started to destroy the Khmer Rouge.

Bolstered by the bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and the gentle kindness of her sister, Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.

First They Killed My Father is an unforgettable book told through the voice of the young and fearless Loung. It is a shocking and tragic tale of a girl who was determined to survive despite the odds.

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A major film, co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie

Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official.

Read more

Product details

ISBN
9781910948033
Published
2017-09-07
Publisher
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight
213 gr
Height
196 mm
Width
129 mm
Thickness
18 mm
Age
01, G, 01
Language
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Author

Biographical note

Loung Ung's debut memoir, First They Killed My Father, was an international bestseller. It is now being made into a film which will be co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt.

Loung Ung is also the author of After They Killed Our Father: A refugee from the killing fields reunites with the sister she left behind. As an author, lecturer, and activist, she has dedicated twenty years to promoting equality, human rights, and justice in her native land and worldwide. She has lectured widely to schools, universities and corporations on Cambodia, child soldiers, women and war, and landmines. She currently lives in the US.