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An international pariah for the past four decades, Burma has seen its profile, though not its military government's reputation, rise higher in recent years because of the saga of Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Thant contributes welcome context to her plight under house arrest, as well as to Burma's, writ large with this history. It reaches into ancient mists, establishing the origins of Burmese national traditions (in terms of revered places, admired kings, and Buddhism), and commences concretely with three wars that culminated in Britain's colonization of the country in 1885. Administratively part of British India, Burma regained some autonomy in the 1930s, but its nationalists, according to Thant, were inclined toward ideological extremism, with baleful effects: the founder of the military regime, Ne Win, sided with the Japanese invaders in World War II and in 1962 imposed a form of nationalistic socialism that suffocated the economy and isolated the country from the world community. This readable, reflective history will support revived interest in Burma. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Kurzbeschreibung
For nearly two decades Western governments and a growing activist community have been frustrated in their attempts to bring about a freer and more democratic Burma—through sanctions and tourist boycotts—only to see an apparent slide toward even harsher dictatorship. But what do we really know about Burma and its history? And what can Burma’s past tell us about the present and even its future?
In The River of Lost Footsteps, Thant Myint-U tells the story of modern Burma, in part through a telling of his own family’s history, in an interwoven narrative that is by turns lyrical, dramatic, and appalling. His maternal grandfather, U Thant, rose from being the schoolmaster of a small town in the Irrawaddy Delta to become the UN secretary-general in the 1960s. And on his father’s side, the author is descended from a long line of courtiers who served at Burma’s Court of Ava for nearly two centuries. Through their stories and others, he portrays Burma’s rise and decline in the modern world, from the time of Portuguese pirates and renegade Mughal princes through the decades of British colonialism, the devastation of World War II, and a sixty-year civil war that continues today and is the longest-running war anywhere in the world.
The River of Lost Footsteps is a work both personal and global, a distinctive contribution that makes Burma accessible and enthralling.
Thant Myint-U, educated at Harvard and Cambridge, has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia and in the former Yugoslavia, and was more recently the head of policy planning in the UN's Department of Political Affairs. He lives in New York City.
For nearly two decades Western governments and a growing activist community have been frustrated in their attempts to bring about a freer and more democratic Burma through sanctions and tourist boycotts—only to see an apparent slide toward even harsher dictatorship.
Now Thant Myint-U tells the story of modern Burma, and the story of his own family. His maternal grandfather, U Thant, rose from his job as schoolmaster in a small town in the Irrawaddy Delta to become the United Nations secretary-general in the 1960s. And he is descended on his father's side from a line of courtiers who served at Burma's Court of Ava for nearly two centuries. Through their stories and those of others, he portrays Burma's rise and decline in the modern world, from the time of Portuguese pirates and renegade Mughal princes through the decades of British colonialism, the devastation of World War II, and a sixty-year civil war that continues today—the longest-running war anywhere in the world.
"[B]rilliant . . . The River of Lost Footsteps is a balanced, thorough, and serious history, but it is also a polemic, firm in its view that the current international campaign—pursuing 'this policy of isolating one of the most isolated countries in the world'—is moving in the wrong direction."—New Yorker
"[B]rilliant . . . The River of Lost Footsteps is a balanced, thorough, and serious history, but it is also a polemic, firm in its view that the current international campaign—pursuing 'this policy of isolating one of the most isolated countries in the world'—is moving in the wrong direction."—New Yorker
"Mr. Thant eloquently and mournfully recites the dismal history of the last half century and, in analyzing the country’s nascent democracy movement, holds out only the slimmest of hopes for a better future. It will not come through economic and diplomatic sanctions, of that he is convinced. Trade and more engagement, especially more tourism, might let in badly needed light and air. But trying to topple the regime by isolating it would, he argues, be disastrous."—William Grimes, The New York Times
"Thant Myint-U's narrative is full of rich details and colorful characters like Bayinnaung, a 16th-century king who led a mighty elephant corps into battle, defeating neighboring Siam . . . If it could somehow be set on a different course, Thant Myint-U suggests, Burma could once again become an important player in Asia."—Joshua Kurlantzick, The Washington Monthly
"Fascinating . . . [Thant] gives us both the savory details and the cruelties of colonialism, as well as a rare for feel for palace intrigue. In the process, he suggests that isolation is in fact just what the military regime feeds on. It's in its blood."—Pico Iyer, Time
“This new book has already received a number of positive reviews, and so is most likely already on the acquisition list for many libraries, where it certainly deserves to be. Best appreciated as a popular history, Thant Myint-U’s book covers Burma’s distant past to the present day in an engaging style, with many intriguing characters and dramatic moments . . . The best chapters are those that describe Burma’s occupation by the Japanese during WW II and the postwar drive to independence. These chapters show the benefit of the author’s own long-standing research interests, and are valuable reading for anyone interested in anticolonial movements and in Japanese military activity in South Asia in WW II. The chapters covering the author’s personal history are also of general interest, offering a sense of a different Burma than the one that readers may be familiar with from newspaper accounts of the country’s current regime, and providing a more informed perspective on this now isolated place. Highly recommended.”—S. Maxim, University of California, Berkeley, Choice
"This vivid and well-told history opens in the watershed year 1885, when the British seized Burma, abolished the monarchy and made the country part of British India. The trauma transformed Burmese life and fostered a pervasive feeling of humiliation-the author highlights an incident in Rangoon when an elderly Englishman tapped young U Thant on the shoulder with a cane to force him to give up his seat on a bench. Somehow, the British view of Burma as undisciplined morphed into the Burmese self-perception that they were unsuited to democratic government, says the author. The book's main focus is on the modern era, especially the time since World War II, which devastated Burma and led to independence and the still-ongoing civil war. Foreign interventions (by the U.S., Thailand, the Soviet Union, China) worsened the chaos. Since 1962, a military dictatorship installed by the late General Ne Win has ruled, weakening institutions and isolating Burma from the world community. Hampered by past failures and a misplaced penchant for utopian thinking, the Burmese must open up to different ideas and build new institutions if they are ever to achieve democracy, says the author. Further isolation by the West will not help. With wide interest in Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and others opposing the ruling generals, this warrants attention."—Kirkus Reviews
“This new book has already received a number of positive reviews, and so is most likely already on the acquisition list for many libraries, where it certainly deserves to be. Best appreciated as a popular history, Thant Myint-U’s book covers Burma’s distant past to the present day in an engaging style, with many intriguing characters and dramatic moments . . . The best chapters are those that describe Burma’s occupation by the Japanese during WW II and the postwar drive to independence. These chapters show the benefit of the author’s own long-standing research interests, and are valuable reading for anyone interested in anticolonial movements and in Japanese military activity in South Asia in WW II. The chapters covering the author’s personal history are also of general interest, offering a sense of a different Burma than the one that readers may be familiar with from newspaper accounts of the country’s current regime, and providing a more informed perspective on this now isolated place. Highly recommended.”—S. Maxim, University of California, Berkeley, Choice
"This vivid and well-told history opens in the watershed year 1885, when the British seized Burma, abolished the monarchy and made the country part of British India. The trauma transformed Burmese life and fostered a pervasive feeling of humiliation-the author highlights an incident in Rangoon when an elderly Englishman tapped young U Thant on the shoulder with a cane to force him to give up his seat on a bench. Somehow, the British view of Burma as undisciplined morphed into the Burmese self-perception that they were unsuited to democratic government, says the author. The book's main focus is on the modern era, especially the time since World War II, which devastated Burma and led to independence and the still-ongoing civil war. Foreign interventions (by the U.S., Thailand, the Soviet Union, China) worsened the chaos. Since 1962, a military dictatorship installed by the late General Ne Win has ruled, weakening institutions and isolating Burma from the world community. Hampered by past failures and a misplaced penchant for utopian thinking, the Burmese must open up to different ideas and build new institutions if they are ever to achieve democracy, says the author. Further isolation by the West will not help. With wide interest in Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and others opposing the ruling generals, this warrants attention."—Kirkus Reviews
"Analysis of Burma has been 'singularly ahistorical,' Thant Myint-U, a senior officer at the U.N., observes. With an eye to what the past might say ab
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24 Rezensionen
53 von 53 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Beautifully written introduction to a fascinating country
14. Dezember 2006
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
The book starts with a dramatic account of the fall of Mandalay to the British and the bloody guerilla war which followed in the late 19th century. It then describes the tumultuous 1988 uprising which led to the death of hundreds of protesters and what the author sees as the failed international policy towards Burma ever since. He blames this failed policy on the lack of any appreciation of Burmese history and what follows over about 300 pages is his telling of Burmese history, with a lot of stories from his own families history and his own travel around Burma thrown in. At the end he returns to international policy towards Burma and his criticism of sanctions and attempts to isolate the country because of its repressive military government.
The author is the grandson of former UN Secretary-General U Thant and so has a sort of special perspective on at least modern Burmese history.
It's scholarly, with lots of footnotes, but not at all 'academic' in style. It has lots of colorful anecdotes and is often really funny. There's an undercurrent of humor throughout the book. At times though its very sad and poignant. I think one of the most interesting things in the book is how it connects events in Burmese history to events going on around the world at the time, from Ming China and Mughal India, to British politics to Japanese planning for World War Two. The best parts are the more personal parts, I think.
I'd recommend this to any armchair history reader and especially to anyone interested in Asian history or the British empire. For Burma-philes like me, this will probably be a favorite book for a long time.
The author is the grandson of former UN Secretary-General U Thant and so has a sort of special perspective on at least modern Burmese history.
It's scholarly, with lots of footnotes, but not at all 'academic' in style. It has lots of colorful anecdotes and is often really funny. There's an undercurrent of humor throughout the book. At times though its very sad and poignant. I think one of the most interesting things in the book is how it connects events in Burmese history to events going on around the world at the time, from Ming China and Mughal India, to British politics to Japanese planning for World War Two. The best parts are the more personal parts, I think.
I'd recommend this to any armchair history reader and especially to anyone interested in Asian history or the British empire. For Burma-philes like me, this will probably be a favorite book for a long time.
25 von 26 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Very entertaining history and personal memoir
18. Dezember 2006
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
This is really two books (or more) woven into one: 1) in part a well-written and fast-paced history of Burma, with many insights into how Burma's history intersects with global history and 2) a personal memoir and observations about Burma today, with many stories drawn from the author's very interesting family history as well.
I found the book by turns amusing and sad and generally very engaging. It's definately something non-experts can enjoy, including those without any prior knowledge at all of Asian history, let alone Burma. In a way, there is something in it for everyone, from military history, to travelogue, to political commentary, to archeology.
My only wish would be that the author spent a little more time on the present day.
I found the book by turns amusing and sad and generally very engaging. It's definately something non-experts can enjoy, including those without any prior knowledge at all of Asian history, let alone Burma. In a way, there is something in it for everyone, from military history, to travelogue, to political commentary, to archeology.
My only wish would be that the author spent a little more time on the present day.
26 von 28 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Don't forget that it's a "personal" history
16. Mai 2008
Format:Taschenbuch|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
This is a well written book and a very informative one for the Western society to have a broader picture of Burma. However, as one other Burmese reviewer said, the book carries an elite view of history and lack grassroots dimension. I have no problem with highly educated elites that love Burma, as we need them to rebuild our country. In fact, being about the same age, I share a similar sentiment with the author about Burma's future.
The author spoke against economic sanctions and its ineffectiveness to stimulate transformation in Burma. While he made his point well and some other reviewers resonated with him, the author failed to study the drug history in Burma that played a major role in triggering the existing sanctions.
My father was imprisoned a few years back for his successful effort in drug rehabilitation in Burma. Can you imagine a government that would imprison someone for saving the lives of many young people, my age and younger, that buried their lives in drugs because the government didn't give them a hope for a future. It was then I happened to dig into the Amnesty International and U.S. State Department's reports to find out, with much surprise, that the Burmese government was heavily involved in drug production and that 70% of the heroin sold in the U.S. came from Burma; I thought it came from Columbia. To make the long story short, by doing business in Burma, the American companies were helping the junta and their associated drug producers turn their drug money into legitimate white money--the money that came from destroying American young people.
The drug history is an example of the grassroots history of Burma that is missing in the book. The history of unfortunate foreign encounters should not be used to justify the government's trampling of the grassroots using different forms of systematic torture, or to justify the removal of sanctions.
However, as a "personal" history, it is a good read, and we need more books and more authors like him to provide wider windows to look into Burma, so that the world can make informed decisions.
The author spoke against economic sanctions and its ineffectiveness to stimulate transformation in Burma. While he made his point well and some other reviewers resonated with him, the author failed to study the drug history in Burma that played a major role in triggering the existing sanctions.
My father was imprisoned a few years back for his successful effort in drug rehabilitation in Burma. Can you imagine a government that would imprison someone for saving the lives of many young people, my age and younger, that buried their lives in drugs because the government didn't give them a hope for a future. It was then I happened to dig into the Amnesty International and U.S. State Department's reports to find out, with much surprise, that the Burmese government was heavily involved in drug production and that 70% of the heroin sold in the U.S. came from Burma; I thought it came from Columbia. To make the long story short, by doing business in Burma, the American companies were helping the junta and their associated drug producers turn their drug money into legitimate white money--the money that came from destroying American young people.
The drug history is an example of the grassroots history of Burma that is missing in the book. The history of unfortunate foreign encounters should not be used to justify the government's trampling of the grassroots using different forms of systematic torture, or to justify the removal of sanctions.
However, as a "personal" history, it is a good read, and we need more books and more authors like him to provide wider windows to look into Burma, so that the world can make informed decisions.
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