The Hidden History of Burma Paperback – Import, 16 January 2020
Thant Myint-U . Atlantic Books . English
Precariously positioned between China and India, Burma's population has suffered dictatorship, natural disaster and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from long years of house arrest, hopes soared. World leaders including Barack Obama ushered in waves of international support. Progress seemed inevitable. As historian, former diplomat, and presidential advisor, Thant Myint-U saw the cracks forming. In this insider's diagnosis of a country at a breaking point, he dissects how a singularly predatory economic system, fast-rising inequality, disintegrating state institutions, the impact of new social media, the rise of China next door, climate change and deep-seated feelings around race, religion and national identity all came together to challenge the incipient democracy. Interracial violence soared and a horrific exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fixed international attention. Thant Myint-U explains how and why this happened, and details an unsettling prognosis for the future. Burma is today a fragile stage for nearly all the world's problems. Are democracy and an economy that genuinely serves all its people possible in Burma? In clear and urgent prose, Thant Myint-U explores this question - a concern not just for the Burmese but for the rest of the world - warning of the possible collapse of this nation of 55 million while suggesting a fresh agenda for change.
Categories: Action & Adventure
About the Author
Thant Myint-U is an award-winning writer, historian, conservationist, and international public servant. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College at Cambridge University and a Senior Fellow of the United Nations Foundation. He was born in New York City and was educated at Harvard, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Cambridge University, where he completed his PhD in History in 1996. He was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers" of 2013 and by Prospect Magazine as one of 50 "World Thinkers" of 2014. In June 2015 he was awarded the "Fukuoka Grand Prize", Japan's highest cultural prize and in May 2018 the "Padma Shri", one of India's highest civilian honours. Thant Myint-U has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia (1992-3) and in the Balkans (1994-5 and 1996) and from 2000-2007 at the U.N. Secretariat in New York, including as the head of Policy Planning in the Department of Political Affairs and in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. From 2009-2021, he led political and economic reform efforts in Burma (Myanmar), as a member of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council and a Special Advisor on the peace process. During this time, he was also the Founding Chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust, the Founding Chairman of U Thant House, and a Founding Partner of the Ava Advisory Group. He is the author of five books: The Making of Modern Burma (2000), The River of Lost Footsteps (2007), Where China Meets India (2010), The Hidden History of Burma (2019), and Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World (2025). He has also written extensively for newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Financial Times, and Foreign Affairs.
