Rating: 
Summary: An interesting tale worth some consideration
Review: Shelby Tucker nursed a long-time ambition to walk across Burma. Unlike most people with eccentric ambitions, he was able to realize his as a middle aged man. His traveling companion was a young Swede who had recently completed his military service. They were taken on by members of indigenous militias and travelled with with them through the Kachin State in northern Burma to India, with a brief detour through Yunnan, China. Tucker is a previously unpublished writer and a non-practicing lawyer. Although his story focuses on the people he met and the things he saw on his journey, it also becomes apparent that he is a well-connected scion of the Mississippi Delta who has probably managed to enjoy an adventurous life (and professional failure as an author) thanks to family money. He eludes the Burmese Army, but is quickly captured and treated as a spy in India. His and his wife's various connections to a host of foreign service officers and Republican politicians (as well as a journalist who had done a similar trek) ultimately lead to his freedom. Tucker has done his homework in terms of regional history and subsequent events (including the fates of various people and groups he encountered). He returned to the US and UK (where he was living) and acted as an advocate for the Kachins (and perhaps over-estimates his influence, although it probably was timely).
The prose is servicable, but not inspiring. The book drags in places through the middle and is strongest at the beginning and end of the journey. Tucker is obviously a bit self-absorbed and sometimes arrogant---eccentric adventurers are not necessarily the most avuncular of people, afterall. He also seems a bit to taken in by the point of view of Protestant missionaries and their proteges. Oddly, one hears nothing about Catholic missions in the same area and there is little understanding of Theravada Buddhism and its formal or cultural relationship to the Burmans. There also seems to be little curiosity how Christianity and beliefs about spirits and nats manage to coexist. These drawbacks aside, it is an ultimately engaging look at a place that few Westerners have seen.
Rating: 
Summary: This book has been written for a specific audience
Review: This book is different than most other books of a similar subject. In one way, the author has written a very detailed description of World War 2, the history of Burma, and so forth. On the other hand, the author has written a book about a brave and crazy journey through Burma. What has resulted is a book that is too detailed and boring for a reader who is interested in the journey across Burma and not professional enough for a historian or researcher.The author does however seem to present what happened honestly, which allows the reader to form an opinion of the author himself. I have traveled through "insurgent controlled" areas of Burma, and as such understand some of the "issues" that he faced. My personal opinion of the author's character is not good, but this may be due to the fact that we are very different people. The way in which he dealt with certain situations made me feel like he was arrogant and did not consider the needs and feelings of the people risking their life to help him, nor did he consider the way that he was representing the western world to the Kachin people. I feel that there is a small audience of readers who would greatly enjoy this book. These are people who like great detail, and who can relate to the thoughts and views of a person such as the author. The authors companion on the journey, Mat, would have described the things that happened very differently, and providing that his literacy is good, I feel he would have produced a much more enjoyable book for a larger audience of readers. Reviewers email: meabs24 AT hotmail . com
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