Burma: The Curse of Independence by Shelby Tucker

From the Publisher

Burma offers the first up-to-date overview and understanding of Burma’s tragic armed conflict in the twentieth century. Examining the ‘causes’ of the war, Shelby Tucker traces the political development of the country from the occupations by the British and Japanese and eventual independence in 1942, through the army coup of 1962 led by Ne Win, which established an authoritarian state, to the pro-democracy movement of the late 1980s. Tucker examines Burma’s drug trade; scrutinises Burma’s civil rights record; examines the role of the Nationalist leader Aung Seng, who attempted to unite the various sections of the population; the impact of Seng’s assassination and subsequent power struggles; and considers the future for a government faced with armed opposition from separatist movements among the ethnic minorities of Burma’s regions.

Josef Silverstein

The beginning begs one to follow the author into Burma, and the last chapter, which reviews existing interpretations and solutions not laid out in such a clear way before, picks up threads that seem promising and establishes a launching pad for new thinking. This is a must read for anyone wishing to catch up on Burma's past, to learn what scholars recommend as ways out of the present and directions to follow to look to the future.

Times Literary Supplement

Tucker is endlessly fascinating and well-informed on this little known region of Asia where the end of "A Handful of Dust" by Evelyn Waugh elides surreally into Paul Theroux's "Mosquito Coast".

Multicultural Review

As accurate and comprehensive an account as possible under research conditions that are hardly ideal — in fact dauntingly hazardous. Tucker has added a useful "chronological guide to the Burmese civil war" and an impressive annotated bibliography. The maps and photographs are provocative.

Sound-off

You read (this book, find yourself discouraged for the future of this country, grasp for solutions and then start reading many chapters again. Buy the book, learn much more than you ever knew about Burma, and arrive at your own conclusions. Burma is extremely important to the USA or perhaps the reverse is true because of our large drug-user population. We would like to see a democratic, progressive government for these wonderful people but is that dream feasible? Read this book before you venture solutions.

John McEnery

Shelby Tucker's "Burma: The Curse of Independence" paints a colorful picture of the cultural and indeed psychological diversity of Burma's many different races. It then traces the unifying impact of colonization, eventually torn apart by the seismic events of the Japanese invasion and British reconquest. Following the killing of Aung San and the British departure, the author analyses the downward spiral of Burman misrule, its mistreatment of minorities and cooperation with the international traffic in drugs. Written with fluency and verve, the book has to be regarded as a standard work and is indispensable for the understanding of the travails of modern Burma.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents