The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century - Thant Myint-U

The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century

By Thant Myint-U

  • Release Date: 2019-11-12
  • Genre: Asian History
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 10 Ratings

Description

A New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2019
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2020

“An urgent book.” —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times

During a century of colonialism, Burma was plundered for its natural resources and remade as a racial hierarchy. Over decades of dictatorship, it suffered civil war, repression, and deep poverty. Today, Burma faces a mountain of challenges: crony capitalism, exploding inequality, rising ethnonationalism, extreme racial violence, climate change, multibillion dollar criminal networks, and the power of China next door. Thant Myint-U shows how the country’s past shapes its recent and almost unbelievable attempt to create a new democracy in the heart of Asia, and helps to answer the big questions: Can this multicultural country of 55 million succeed? And what does Burma’s story really tell us about the most critical issues of our time?

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