The General [Paperback]

Patrick A. Davis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Co.; 1ST edition (1999)
• ISBN-10: 0425168751
• ISBN-13: 978-0425168752
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,893,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A welcome addition to the field, June 14, 2000

By 

P. Elkin "phil4000" (Frisco, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam (Hardcover)

When I first became aware of Swain's book, my initial thought was, "Another war correspondent's attempt to cash in on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Indo-China." I bought the book, but more because of my current mania for the subject, not because I expected much out of it.

Swain began to win me over right away. He begins the book with much the same sentiment as I expressed above. The author himself wonders what he can add to what's been written before.

The answer is: A lot.

Swain's style fits the subject: factual, but with humanity; horrified without being overwhelmed. The author's self-professed love for Indo-China is evident. The depth of his feelings enabled me to see and feel the end of Indo-China as it had been.

The highlight of the book is the description of the fall of Phnom Penh and the immediate aftermath. I have read several accounts of these events, written by Cambodians and Westerners, and I have seen "The Killing Fields". None of those tellings hold a candle to Swain's description. The misery, chaos, horror, insanity, and inhumanity comes to life in his words.

Swain's work takes it's place among the best of the field.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful journey, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam and Cambodia (Paperback)

I feel a little sorry for a few of the reviewers who have gone before me. I think they may be missing the point. The book does not attempt to provide in-depth military facts, nor is it an attempt at writing a 'suspense thriller', nor is it fiction. Rather, it is portrayal of the experiences of one man [and his friends'] during times of conflict [largely] in Indochina. It is a book of truth and emotion, of beauty and futility, of love and war. Ultimately, it is a book about humanity. Jon Swain has done well, and this book would be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of anyone who is interested in human conflict, Indochina or personal accounts of life in times of extremely adverse and uncertain conditions.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very personal account of life as a war correspondent., April 2, 2000

By 

R. ARANT "Toun" (Lanesville, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam (Hardcover)

"River of Time" is perhaps the most intimate account yet published by the war correspondents and journalists who came of age in Southeast Asia. The author goes to great lengths to reveal all, even aspects which he knows many readers will find personally unflattering. This work is an emotional one totally different in tone from his colleague Robert Sam Anson's more hard-edged but equally distinguished work on the same subject, "War News". Unable to shake his admitted addition to seeking both the truth and personal fame in pursuit of same, Swain abandoned the love of his life for what became yet another hostage experience in Africa. His more recent brushes with death in East Timor show that his one-track obsession with his vocation remains intact. All those who once lost their hearts to Southeast Asia will see a little of themselves in Jon Swain's realistic and accurate self-portrait. A valuable work by a charming an complex man widely admired by his colleagues in the field and by his readers around the world.