Customer Reviews

The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma

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The book starts with a dramatic account of the fall of Mandalay to the British and the bloody guerilla war which followed in the late 19th century. It then describes the tumultuous 1988 uprising which led to the death of hundreds of protesters and what the author sees as the failed international policy towards Burma ever since. He blames this failed policy on the lack of any appreciation of Burmese history and what follows over about 300 pages is his telling of Burmese history, with a lot of stories from his own families history and his own travel around Burma thrown in. At the end he returns to international policy towards Burma and his criticism of sanctions and attempts to isolate the country because of its repressive military government.

The author is the grandson of former UN Secretary-General U Thant and so has a sort of special perspective on at least modern Burmese history.

It's scholarly, with lots of footnotes, but not at all 'academic' in style. It has lots of colorful anecdotes and is often really funny. There's an undercurrent of humor throughout the book. At times though its very sad and poignant. I think one of the most interesting things in the book is how it connects events in Burmese history to events going on around the world at the time, from Ming China and Mughal India, to British politics to Japanese planning for World War Two. The best parts are the more personal parts, I think.

I'd recommend this to any armchair history reader and especially to anyone interested in Asian history or the British empire. For Burma-philes like me, this will probably be a favorite book for a long time.

This is really two books (or more) woven into one: 1) in part a well-written and fast-paced history of Burma, with many insights into how Burma's history intersects with global history and 2) a personal memoir and observations about Burma today, with many stories drawn from the author's very interesting family history as well.

I found the book by turns amusing and sad and generally very engaging. It's definately something non-experts can enjoy, including those without any prior knowledge at all of Asian history, let alone Burma. In a way, there is something in it for everyone, from military history, to travelogue, to political commentary, to archeology.

My only wish would be that the author spent a little more time on the present day.

This is a great introduction to Burma and its history. It is well written, clear, and sometimes funny. Furthermore, it is not too detailed for novices.

The author's main point is a good one. Discussion of Burma tends to be largely ahistorical. Few consider Burma's history when deciding policy. I wouldn't exactly consider US senators to have this level of sophistication, but it seems that somebody should, especially lobbyists. Through history, the author shows Burma as having been often isolated and torn, with little institutional capacity to govern after the British took over.

I thought the last few pages were a bit glib and not well argued. I disagree with current US policy of isolation, but the author loses his depth of understanding and seems to label the Burma lobby in the same brush as the government of Burma. The truth is, sanctions probably have relatively little effect on Burma. If the author has shown anything, it is the extent to which Burma's government isolates itself from international norms and pressure. While perhaps more aid money and business would go into the country without sanctions, much of it would not go in anyway because of the government's pervasive mismanagement and corruption (Global Fund pulled out because of misuse of its funds; Red Cross was recently expelled).

Despite these last few pages, the book is overall a great read for novices and long-time Burma watchers.

This is a well written book and a very informative one for the Western society to have a broader picture of Burma. However, as one other Burmese reviewer said, the book carries an elite view of history and lack grassroots dimension. I have no problem with highly educated elites that love Burma, as we need them to rebuild our country. In fact, being about the same age, I share a similar sentiment with the author about Burma's future.

The author spoke against economic sanctions and its ineffectiveness to stimulate transformation in Burma. While he made his point well and some other reviewers resonated with him, the author failed to study the drug history in Burma that played a major role in triggering the existing sanctions.

My father was imprisoned a few years back for his successful effort in drug rehabilitation in Burma. Can you imagine a government that would imprison someone for saving the lives of many young people, my age and younger, that buried their lives in drugs because the government didn't give them a hope for a future. It was then I happened to dig into the Amnesty International and U.S. State Department's reports to find out, with much surprise, that the Burmese government was heavily involved in drug production and that 70% of the heroin sold in the U.S. came from Burma; I thought it came from Columbia. To make the long story short, by doing business in Burma, the American companies were helping the junta and their associated drug producers turn their drug money into legitimate white money--the money that came from destroying American young people.

The drug history is an example of the grassroots history of Burma that is missing in the book. The history of unfortunate foreign encounters should not be used to justify the government's trampling of the grassroots using different forms of systematic torture, or to justify the removal of sanctions.

However, as a "personal" history, it is a good read, and we need more books and more authors like him to provide wider windows to look into Burma, so that the world can make informed decisions.

We Americans tend to forget or ignore the fact that there are deep seeded historical reasons why governments in other countries take certain positions that seem to be inappropriate. Such is the case with Burma, and the xenophobic, anti-democratic actions of its military government. Fortunately, Thant Myint-U has provided a basis for understanding the situation in Burma through his wonderful book, The River of Lost Footsteps.

Thant shows that Burma's current state is mostly the result of its very long history of negative interactions with other countries. He discusses how occupations by the Chinese, British, Japanese, and others have led to a mistrust of foreigners. This mistrust has morphed into a sense of nationalistic self-reliance, in part from several examples (augmented by nostalgia) where a strong Burmese leader has successfully led the country. Thant then discusses how the radical changes that have occurred in Burma over the last 150 years have left the country without a governing class capable of managing it. Given these factors, it's no surprise that the one governmental unit with strong structure, the military, is running the country.

Considering all the care that Thant took to show how Burma came to its current state of affairs, it was a little disappointing to see that he rushed through his conclusions. Beyond saying that the existing international response of economic sanctions won't work, he provides little in the way of possible answers as to how Burma can be integrated into the international community. That response comes across as a little too vague and diplomatic for someone who clearly understands the reasons behind Burma's present circumstances. Still, The River of Lost Footsteps is an important starting point for persons interested in comprehending Burma's situation and developing a policy for addressing its position.

Thant Myint-U tells the story of how Burma became the "poisoned Shangri-la", possibly the second weirdest country after North Korea. At first sight, Burma is a battle between the evil dictature and Aung San Suu Kyi. But Thant Myint-U gives us an infinitely more complicated picture, from thousands of years ago until the present day, with a civil was that has lasted for 60 years. The state-building suffered severely both when the british conquered Burma in 1885, as well as they were thrown out in 1948. But the book is more than just a story lesson. He has a clear message: Boycott is perhaps an easy answer to what to do with the country. Too easy. The dictature is extremely xenophobic, and avoids any influence from outside the country. They would not mind any boycott. Instead one should delicately try to interact more with the country. Thant Myint-U gives no easy fix, but a very sober and well-written overview. I have one minor remark: The map provided in the book should be more informative, many places mentioned in the text are not included.

Best writing on modern Burmese politics yet to appear, should be read by all the ostriches with their heads in the sand who believe that sanctions, boycotts, embargoes and the like will have any effect on the junta.

Sanctions that target an entire country, rather than its leaders, are at best ignorantly undertaken and ultimately unethical.

It seems like a real cliche to say that this book is fascinating, yet that is the word that best sums up my experience reading it. Before I picked up this book I knew virtually nothing about the history of Burma. I have traveled a fair bit in SE Asia and have spent a lot of time reading the history of Thailand in particular. The overview short history of SE Asia that I read some time back completely ignored Burma which seemed totally inexplicable to me. This book goes to great lengths to explain the history of Burma from the beginning. Much of the book deals with the 19th century and the eventual British take over, ousting of the monarchy, and subsequent events. While there is definitely a good bit of personal history and familial anecdotes are included I didn't think they took away from the history of the country as it is laid out.

And the book has changed my personal opinion about sanctions and Burma policy as it has evolved over the last few decades. As much as those of us in the West would like the countries of SE Asia to be functional Western style democracies I am not sure it is fair to expect such systems to develop and evolve overnight given the starting points these places have to work with. While democratic ideals are certainly a goal to which we would want all countries and people to aspire I think we forget that Western countries' democracies have taken hundreds of years to reach the point the have achieved. To expect SE Asian countries, with little to no democratic historical contexts or institutions, to become democrat in a short period of time is not realistic. The author lays out in the final chapter how it will take some time for Burma to become a real democracy. And it rang true with me when I read it. And let's also not forget that current Western democracies aren't all they are cracked up to be either as they more and more exist for the enrichment of the already rich at the expense of the rest of us.

This neighborhood is full of countries where corruption is rife, economic and human rights are regularly abused, and the vast majority of people are barely eking out a life with little prospect of economic mobility. How do we help these people move themselves forward? Does sanctions on the Burmese government, which has itself sought isolation anyway, do anything to advance the cause of Burmese freedom? Or do they stand a better chance of a better life if we engage with them, visit them, trade with them, and try to bring them into the "family of nations"? We are always quick to punish, but is there much evidence that this punishment brings about the sorts of changes we are hoping for?

Thoughtful, poignant and thorough, Thant does a terrific job of condensing a complicated history, through and until the 1970s. After that, you'll have to get another book for a more thorough background. I thought I'd be lost in the slew of Burmese names, but the book keeps the read enthralled enough to not get lost in the details.

This is one of the best historical books I have ever read in my life. As a matter of fact. I purchased two books. Before completing the first one I gave it to my friend who like me was also born in Rangoon.

During 1942 when I was five my parents had left me to study in India with my grandfather but three times I had visted my parents in Rangoon during my vacations before I came to America for further studies. While I was still in Iowa, during 1964 my parents, my brothers, and my sisters had come back to India but no one knew the real reason why general Ne Win deported so many of them from Burma. My initial reason was to determine what was his real motive. Searching through various pages I landed on 296 which has the the real reason. Briefly, his coal business in Rangoon had turned sour when he could not compete with some coal merchants from India. Thus, for him revenge was the only answer and he accompished it after comimg to power.

I strongly recommend this book to those who are born in Burma or those who have roots in Burma. Thant Myint-U has done extensive search to write this book for those who are curious about Burma and those who are there seeking democracy. My hats off to those students who had given up their lives seeking freedom for their country, those around the world who are supporting that cause for Burma, and Aung San Suu Kyi who is optimistic about getting democracy in her country.

Rashmi