Book cover of Life As the River Flows

Book description

During the years spanning from 1949 to 1961, communist insurgents fought some 100,000 British troops in the hopes of ending the British presence in Malaya. "What was it like living during that time? What role did the community of women play in the situation? What compromises did they have to…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Life As the River Flows as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love this book because it is a moving, powerful, and remarkable account of the life stories of sixteen women who fought and lived in the dense tropical jungles bordering Malaysia and Thailand during the forty-year guerilla war against the British and Japanese occupation of Malaya.

Through these accounts, we learn who these women are, why they joined the CPM army, and why they stayed so loyal to the movement and its ideals even to this day. Agnes Khoo’s retelling of their stories is accompanied by illuminating excerpts and photographs of women in both civilian dress and combat gear.

From Piya's list on ethnographic study.

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