River of Time

By Jon Swain,

Book cover of River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam and Cambodia

Book description

"A splendid memoir...a tale, at once tragic and beautiful, of love and loss, of coming of age and of witnessing the end of Indochina as the West had known it for more than a century."ā€”Los Angleles Times Book Review. From the writer immortalized in the Academy Award-winning film The Killingā€¦

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked River of Time as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Personally, I love historical memoirs, real stories from people who were there. Fast forward 14 years of war from the time Michel left Hanoi to dive into the memoir of another who fell for the allure of Vietnam and Cambodia. British journalist Jon Swain was in the region from 1970 to 1975 and saw the horrors committed by the Khmer Rouge when it finally took Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Having been captured by the Khmer Rouge he was saved from execution only by the actions of The New York Times interpreter, Dith Pran. It was this story and experience thatā€¦

From Mandaley's list on the French in Vietnam.

If you love River of Time...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorā€”and only womanā€”on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route upā€¦

Want books like River of Time?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like River of Time.

Browse books like River of Time

Book cover of The Quiet American
Book cover of Saigon: An Epic Novel of Vietnam
Book cover of Vietnam: A History in Documents

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,008

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

šŸ“š If you like River of Time, you might also like...

Book cover of Bernardine's Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China

Bernardine's Shanghai Salon by Susan Blumberg-Kason,

Meet the Jewish salon host in 1930s Shanghai who brought together Chinese and expats around the arts as civil war erupted and World War II loomed on the horizon.

Bernardine Szold Fritz arrived in Shanghai in 1929 to marry her fourth husband. Only thirty-three years old, she found herself inā€¦

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Who Is a Worthy Mother? by Rebecca Wellington,

I grew up thinking that being adopted didnā€™t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courtā€™s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over womenā€™s reproductive rights placesā€¦

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Khmer Rouge?

Cambodia 30 books
Vietnam 170 books
The Khmer Rouge 13 books