Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948

Rating:
Summary: Disclosing the hidden plots and tricky deals inside Burma
Review: The reader who have appreciated Lintner's maybe most famous work, Land of Jade (the description of a journey through insurgency-held areas in Burma around mid 80s), cannot miss this volume. Under the surface of an extremeley documentated essay, it's a pleasant and instructive work, reccomended to the concerned traveller and to the scholar, to the journalist and to the reader fond of adventure stories. The books shows the connections between the legitimate aspirations of autonomy of ethnic minorities of Burma and the strategies to get them, the collapse of the dream of a real Union of Burma with full rights for every people of that country, the rationale which lies behind opium production and its exploitation by Rangoon military. The search for profit on the behalf of the military regime chose the simpliest way: divide the minorities and get rich. Never mind if the easiest "gold" of Burma has been proved to be opium and drug trade, never mind if the result is the disgregation of pristine ethnic and social structures, the death of thousands people... Lintner is a specialist of Burma with a strong sympathy for the sufferings of common human beings of Burma, and this attitude is a plus-value for the book. And the glossary of organizations, parties, armies and leaders are an essential and rare resource for whoever studies or follows Burmese affairs.

Rating:
Summary: Disclosing the hidden plots and tricky deals inside Burma
Review: The reader who have appreciated Lintner's maybe most famous work, Land of Jade (the description of a journey through insurgency-held areas in Burma around mid 80s), cannot miss this volume. Under the surface of an extremeley documentated essay, it's a pleasant and instructive work, reccomended to the concerned traveller and to the scholar, to the journalist and to the reader fond of adventure stories. The books shows the connections between the legitimate aspirations of autonomy of ethnic minorities of Burma and the strategies to get them, the collapse of the dream of a real Union of Burma with full rights for every people of that country, the rationale which lies behind opium production and its exploitation by Rangoon military. The search for profit on the behalf of the military regime chose the simpliest way: divide the minorities and get rich. Never mind if the easiest "gold" of Burma has been proved to be opium and drug trade, never mind if the result is the disgregation of pristine ethnic and social structures, the death of thousands people... Lintner is a specialist of Burma with a strong sympathy for the sufferings of common human beings of Burma, and this attitude is a plus-value for the book. And the glossary of organizations, parties, armies and leaders are an essential and rare resource for whoever studies or follows Burmese affairs.