Among Insurgents: Walking Through Burma (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Some years ago, in the company of a young Swede and units of two armies at war with the military junta that rules Burma, I..." (more)
Key Phrases: forward escort, new porters, revered elder, Seng Hpung, Burma Army, Awng Hkawng (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…endlessly fascinating and well–informed on this little–known region of Asia… The most unusual and distinguished travel book I have read in years.” -- Robert Carver, THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

Product Description

At the age of 53, Shelby Tucker set out to cross Burma on foot from China to India when land access to Burma was forbidden. Tucker had a rucksack, a diary and some inaccurate maps. He recruited a 6ft 4" Swede, Mats, whom he had met on the train to Beijing. Near the beginning of their walk through the jungle they encountered a group of naked boys bathing - they realized too late that the boys' Chinese Army uniforms were on the banks. With typical sangfroid, Tucker leapt in to join them, shouting incomprehensible English greetings. Before long they were in the hands of the Kachin Independence Army and managed to survive many near misses with the Burmese Army. Despite pain and constant danger, Tucker recorded each day the vivid beauty of the country, and the courtesy and hospitality of the Kachins (the most important of Burma's hidden colonies, about whom very little has been written). "Among Insurgents" was Colin Thubron's Book of the Year.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007127057
• ISBN-13: 978-0007127054
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,047,557 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More reviews on behalf of the US distributor, Palgrave, October 25, 2000

By	Andrea Lansing (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Among Insurgents: Walking Through Burma (Hardcover)

"I read the book over the weekend and laughed my head off. What an addle-pated odyssey it is. The nonchalance with which he does things that could get him locked up in some bamboo cage for thirty or forty years takes my breath away. I've seldom been more aware of the thinness of the line between courage and lunacy. Luckily for his narrative, he is aware of it too, and has great fun jumping back and forth over it. I take my hat off to him, both for actually doing what he did and for writing so well about it." --Tobias Wolff

"I cannot recommend Among Insurgents highly enough. Shelby Tucker describes a quite extraordinary trek across the genuinely remote and dangerous mountainous north of Burma. His account gets to grips with an immensely complicated political scenario and is written in the classic manner. I was reminded quite often of Fitzroy MacLean and Peter Fleming." --Justin Wintle "To one familiar with the dangers inherent in such an enterprise, the story almost defies belief. A 53-year-old American teams up with a 22-year-old Swede, whom he has met on a train and known for less than an hour, with the aim of trekking across one of the most inaccessible and least explored areas on earth, in a country which, everyone recognizes, is ruled by a military autocracy and which has been engaged in a vicious civil war for nearly half a century." --Stephen Morse

"I read it in growing amazement. What a journey and what a lot of research since! Very impressive." --Robin Hanbury-Tenison

"I think [Shelby Tucker] may have written a classic of modern travel writing." --John McEnery

"Among Insurgents is a vastly impressive piece of work and life. Shelby Tucker may be a mad man, but he certainly writes wonderfully." --Peter Wolf

"I read it at one sitting, with my wife providing earthly sustenance at intervals, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. The vitality and freshness of the enterprise shone throughout." --Robert Pelletreau

"Those of us who would never go on such an adventure (and that's most of us!) can have something stirred within us, feel a little freer, more willing to take risks, after reading this book." --Fred Fenton

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dances with Leeches, July 30, 2000

By	Lyndall Davey (Winchelsea, East Sussex, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Among Insurgents: Walking Through Burma (Hardcover)

'Among Insurgents' by Shelby Tucker is more than a travel book. This extraordinary account of a fifty-four year old writer's trek across war-torn Burma from China to India has about it - to use Fitzgerald's phrase - 'something glorious'. It is the unique blend of high adventure with the lucid and passionate exposition of his Kachin escorts' struggles against a corrupt government (bolstered by misguided Western military aid) that looks set to make this a classic. Merciless in its ironic - and at times very amusing - exposure of folly (not least his own), lyrical in its description of this little-known land and its peoples, and ulluminating in its astute political / historical analysis, this is, by any measure, a remarkable achievement.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book has been written for a specific audience, March 14, 2004

By A Customer

This book is different than most other books of a similar subject. In one way, the author has written a very detailed description of World War 2, the history of Burma, and so forth. On the other hand, the author has written a book about a brave and crazy journey through Burma. What has resulted is a book that is too detailed and boring for a reader who is interested in the journey across Burma and not professional enough for a historian or researcher.

The author does however seem to present what happened honestly, which allows the reader to form an opinion of the author himself. I have traveled through "insurgent controlled" areas of Burma, and as such understand some of the "issues" that he faced. My personal opinion of the author's character is not good, but this may be due to the fact that we are very different people. The way in which he dealt with certain situations made me feel like he was arrogant and did not consider the needs and feelings of the people risking their life to help him, nor did he consider the way that he was representing the western world to the Kachin people.

I feel that there is a small audience of readers who would greatly enjoy this book. These are people who like great detail, and who can relate to the thoughts and views of a person such as the author. The authors companion on the journey, Mat, would have described the things that happened very differently, and providing that his literacy is good, I feel he would have produced a much more enjoyable book for a larger audience of readers.

Reviewers email: meabs24 AT hotmail . com