For nearly two decades Western governments and a growing activist community have been frustrated in their attempts to bring about a freer and more democratic Burma only to see an apparent slide toward even harsher dictatorship. What do we really know about Burma and its history?
In “The River of Lost Footsteps,” Thant Myint-U tells the story of modern Burma, in part through a telling of his own family’s history, in an interwoven narrative that is by turns lyrical, dramatic, and appalling, according to a review on goodreads.com.
The book is a work both personal and global, a distinctive contribution that makes Burma accessible and enthralling. Thant Myint-U, educated at Harvard and Cambridge, has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia and in the former Yugoslavia, and was more recently the head of policy planning in the UN’s Department of Political Affairs. He lives in New York City.
