First They Killed My Father

“A riveting memoir. . . an important, moving work that those who have suffered cannot afford to forget and those who have been spared cannot afford to ignore.” — San Francisco Chronicle

From a childhood survivor of the Cambodian genocide under the regime of Pol Pot, this is a riveting narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit.

One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung’s family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.

Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung’s powerful survival story is an unforgettable memoir of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.

How does a family’s love endure when a nation is consumed by hate?

• A Child’s Perspective on War: Experience the fall of Phnom Penh and the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime through the eyes of five-year-old Loung Ung.
• The Fight for Family: Witness the harrowing dispersal of a once-privileged family, with siblings sent to brutal labor camps and parents facing an unspeakable fate.
• Survival Against All Odds: From a life of privilege to a work camp for orphans, this is a raw and unforgettable account of a young girl’s resilience in the face of starvation and brutality.
• Triumph of the Human Spirit: Discover the unbreakable bonds of love that sustained a family through one of the darkest chapters of modern history.