Blood, Dreams and Gold: The Changing Face of Burma
Richard Cockett
Abstract
Burma is one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia and was once one of its richest. Under successive military regimes, however, the country eventually ended up as one of the poorest countries in Asia, a byword for repression and ethnic violence. The author of this book spent years in the region as a correspondent for The Economist and witnessed first-hand the vicious sectarian politics of the Burmese government, and later, also, its surprising attempts at political and social reform. This enlightening history, from the colonial era on, explains how Burma descended into decades of civil wa ... More
Burma is one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia and was once one of its richest. Under successive military regimes, however, the country eventually ended up as one of the poorest countries in Asia, a byword for repression and ethnic violence. The author of this book spent years in the region as a correspondent for The Economist and witnessed first-hand the vicious sectarian politics of the Burmese government, and later, also, its surprising attempts at political and social reform. This enlightening history, from the colonial era on, explains how Burma descended into decades of civil war and authoritarian government. Taking advantage of the opening up of the country since 2011, the author interviewed hundreds of former political prisoners, guerilla fighters, ministers, monks, and others to give a vivid account of life under one of the most brutal regimes in the world. The book also explains why the regime has started to reform, and why these reforms will not go as far as many people had hoped. This book presents a survey of this volatile Asian nation.
Keywords:
Burma,
Southeast Asia,
repression,
ethnic violence,
Burmese government,
social reform,
political reform
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780300204513 |
| Published to Yale Scholarship Online: May 2016 |
DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300204513.001.0001 |
