Swain's book River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam chronicles his experiences from 1970 to 1975 during the war in Indochina, including the fall of Cambodia.
After an unhappy education at the independent Blundell's School, from which he was expelled, he ran away to join the French Foreign Legion.
During this time he had many famous scoops, including uncovering the financial support extended by Libya's Colonel Gaddafi to Arthur Scargill's National Union of Mineworkers.
[2] On the road to Becora, just east of Dili, together with American photographer Chip Hires and their Timorese driver and interpreter, Swain encountered, and was detained by, Indonesian soldiers of Battalion 745.
Swain has recounted the incident in print, and in a television interview for fellow journalist Step Vaessen, who was reporting from central Dili with her cameraman spouse, André.