A daughter of Cambodia remembers.Until age five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of an educated, high-ranking government official. When the Kymer Rouge stormed the city in 1975, the young girl and her family fled from village to village. Fighting to hide their identity, the Ungs eventually were forced to separate to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans. As half her family died in labour camps by execution, starvation, and disease, Loung herself grew increasingly resilient and determined - armed with indomitable will, she miraculously managed to outlast the Khmer Rouge and survive the killing fields. First they Killed My Father is her astonishing story, a memorable human drama of courage and survival against all odds.

Loung Ung is National Spokesperson for the ‘Campaign for a Landmine Free World', a program of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. She lectures extensively throughout the United States and appears regularly in the media. First they Killed My Father is her first book and it has been set as a VCE text on the Victorian syllabus.