Above you will see price and availability details for River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma by Thant Myint-U from the leading UK book stores.
To allow you to quickly compare prices, the stores are arranged in order of delivered price, cheapest first. Click on a store name to buy this book or to view further details.
Books Related to The River of Lost Footsteps Thant Myint-U - ISBN: 0571217591
The River of Lost Footsteps - Rated
'The River of Lost Footsteps' is a beautiful, eloquent history of Burma. It looks at the events from pre-colonial days that shaped the country's identity and allegiances, from various invasions and conquests to the rise and fall of internal kingdoms. It then looks at the British control and the implications this had on trade and the infra-structure and then lastly focuses upon Burmese life since independence and the struggles against dictatorship. Although my description may sound a touch dry this book is in fact very readable and is written in beautiful prose that really helps you imagine the life and scenes portrayed. The authors chosen chronology of the history and some of the unusual names created some confusion for me at times, but this is really a minor flaw in what is a masterly introduction to this fascinating and troubled country. This is well worth a read if you have even a remote passing interest in this country or region, you should not be disappointed.
Beautifully written introduction to Burma - Rated
The River of Lost Footsteps is mainly a straight-forward history of Burma, focusing on the modern period (with about half the book on the last sixty years or so), but including earlier (ancient and medieval)history as well. It is fast-paced, very well-written, and full of colourful, sometimes sad, and sometimes quite funny anecdotes and stories.
The book interweaves Burma's history with the history of the author's own family (on his mother's side, his grandfather was U Thant, the former UN Secretary-General and on his father's side the author is descended from 18th and 19th century Burmese aristocrats and courtiers). It also includes the author's own travels and experiences in Burma and recollection, such as his account of his U Thant's funeral in 1974 which led to a near uprising against the then military government. All this makes the book much more personal and interesting than a straight-forward history.
The author concludes (in the last few pages) which his analysis of present-day Burma and his criticisms of international policy. He is very at times devastatingly critical of the military government but believes that sanctions against Burma are counter-productive and based on a misunderstanding of Burma's problems.
There's a lot of British history this book as well, with a whole chapter on the first Anglo-Burmese war and much on Burma's colonial history and the British withdrawal from Burma in the 1940s. I'd recommend it to any armchair historian with an interest in the British empire, or Asia and certainly to anyone interested in Burma.
