In the New York Times, a review of “The River Of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma” by Thant Myint-U:
Burma has the dubious distinction of playing host to the world’s longest-running civil war – it began with independence in 1948 and still goes on – and its most durable military dictatorship. If not for North Korea, Burma might also claim top honors in two other categories, most isolated and most xenophobic, but it could still win the prize for most misunderstood.
Geographically remote, politically retrograde, economically backward, Burma, today called Myanmar, struggles on, burdened by one of the largest armies on the planet and desperate for help. In “The River of Lost Footsteps,” Thant Myint-U offers at least a little understanding, “an introduction to a country whose current problems are increasingly known but whose colorful and vibrant history is almost entirely forgotten.”
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