Buy used: $5.49

FREE delivery Friday, August 11. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by onceuponatimebooks

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Thant Myint-U

Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia Hardcover – September 13, 2011

by Thant Myint-U (Author)

4.4 53 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$11.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$5.49

$13.50

$3.50

Paperback

"Please retry"

$18.00

$12.61

$2.99

Kindle
$11.99 Read with Our Free App
Hardcover
$5.49

18 Used from $3.50 3 New from $13.50 2 Collectible from $12.85
Paperback
$18.00

38 Used from $2.99 24 New from $12.61

Thant Myint-U's Where China Meets India is a vivid, searching, timely book about the remote region that is suddenly a geopolitical center of the world.

From their very beginnings, China and India have been walled off from each other: by the towering summits of the Himalayas, by a vast and impenetrable jungle, by hostile tribes and remote inland kingdoms stretching a thousand miles from Calcutta across Burma to the upper Yangtze River.

Soon this last great frontier will vanish--the forests cut down, dirt roads replaced by superhighways, insurgencies crushed--leaving China and India exposed to each other as never before. This basic shift in geography--as sudden and profound as the opening of the Suez Canal--will lead to unprecedented connections among the three billion people of Southeast Asia and the Far East.

What will this change mean? Thant Myint-U is in a unique position to know. Over the past few years he has traveled extensively across this vast territory, where high-speed trains and gleaming new shopping malls are now coming within striking distance of the last far-flung rebellions and impoverished mountain communities. And he has explored the new strategic centrality of Burma, where Asia's two rising, giant powers appear to be vying for supremacy.

At once a travelogue, a work of history, and an informed look into the future, Where China Meets India takes us across the fast-changing Asian frontier, giving us a masterful account of the region's long and rich history and its sudden significance for the rest of the world.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date

September 13, 2011
Dimensions

6.44 x 1.29 x 9.34 inches
ISBN-10

0374299072
ISBN-13

978-0374299071
See all details

Most purchased | Lowest Pricein this set of products
Thant Myint-U
400
Paperback
$10.99
Highest ratedin this set of products
Thant Myint-U
14
Paperback
$29.99
This item:
Thant Myint-U
53
Hardcover
23 offers from $3.50

Editorial Reviews

Review

[A] blend of personal reminiscence, history--enlivened with an eye for the telling anecdote--travelogue and polemic. (The Economist)

[Where China Meets India] possesses a heartfelt and welcome optimism, giving voice to a desire for connections that exceeds all notions of foreign policy, geopolitics or business and becomes, instead, about people encountering each other in all their glorious difference. (Siddhartha Deb, The Guardian)

Thant Myint-U makes clear in Where China Meets India [that] Burma's days as a neglected backwater are over. (Tim Johnston, Financial Times)

This is probably the best book written on Myanmar after 1988. It is a must-read not only for diplomats, political analysts and CEOs of multinationals but also for readers who enjoy racy narrative, fascinating accounts of a bygone era, of Shangri-La, kings and generals, intrigue and heroism, the Tarons, remnants of the only known pigmy race in mainland Asia, and the lives of common people in some of the remotest parts of the region in and around Myanmar. (Bhaskar K Mitra, Business Standard)

Thant's knowledge of Burma's history, peoples, cultures, and kingdoms brings focus to his travels through the area. The constant interplay between his experiences and knowledge of the region make this book a gem, with myriad rare insights. (Publishers Weekly)

An illumining look at a country torn between two emerging superpowers . . . In a whirlwind tour through Burma's history, politics, culture and geography, Myint-U makes a successful case for its importance in South Asia's future. (Kirkus Reviews)

Interweaving the history and geography of Burma (Myanmar) with a travel memoir, Thant (The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma) narrates the compelling story of his journey through this rapidly evolving region rich in culture and heritage . . . A highly readable and entertaining foray into the complex history of this ancient land, this book will be of interest to lovers of history and travel writing. (Allan Cho, Library Journal)

'Asia' is already the 21st century's most contested term. For some it represents a block comprising most of the world's population, for others a region rife with historical rivalries. In this engaging narrative, Thant Myint-U shows us how Asia is still under construction, with new ports, canals, railroads and passageways are knitting together a continent. Most interestingly, these new Silk Roads enjoin the world's two most populous nations, China and India, via Burma, a land of incredible diversity and promise, but also despair and risk. If the presumed geopolitical rivalries in Asia are to be averted, it will be by following Thant's road-map. (Parag Khanna, author of The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order and How to Run the World)

Where China Meets India is a rare find, an ambitious, comprehensive work that is at once entertaining and illuminating by a leading scholar on Burma. (Andrew Pham, author of The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars)

About the Author

Thant Myint-U was educated at Harvard and Cambridge Universities and later taught history for several years as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has also served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia, as well as with the United Nations Secretariat in New York. He is the author of a personal history of Burma, The River of Lost Footsteps.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition (September 13, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374299072
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374299071
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.44 x 1.29 x 9.34 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,881,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,202 in Southeast Asia History
- #4,111 in India History
- #6,293 in Asian Politics

Customer Reviews:
4.4 53 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Thant Myint-U

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Thant Myint-U is an award winning writer, historian, conservationist, and former advisor to the President of Myanmar.

thantmyintu.com

He was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers" of 2013 and by Prospect Magazine as one of 50 "World Thinkers" of 2014. In June 2015 he was awarded the "Fukuoka Grand Prize", Japan's highest cultural prize and in May 2018 the "Padma Shri", one of India's highest civilian honours.

He is the Founder and Chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust, the Founder and Chairman of U Thant House, a Founding Partner of the Ava Advisory Group, and from 2012-2016 was a member of the (Myanmar) National Economic and Social Advisory Council. As a Special Advisor for the peace process he was part of the team that led negotiations towards the 2015 "Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement" between the Myanmar government and ethnic-minority insurgent armies.

Thant Myint-U is a Myanmar national but born in New York City to Burmese parents in 1966, 'returning' to Burma for the first time when he was eight years old. He was educated at Harvard and Cambridge University, where he completed his PhD in history in 1996.

He has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia and in the former Yugoslavia, as well as six years with the UN Secretariat in NY, including as the head of policy planning in the Department of Political Affairs. In 2004-5 he was the Principal Officer in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General responsible for the 2005 World Summit.

Thant Myint-U taught modern history for several years as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and is the author of three books, The Making of Modern Burma, The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma, and, most recently, Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia, which was short-listed for the Asia Society's Bernard Schwartz Book Award in 2012.

thantmyintu.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

53 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

For the armchair traveler

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2012

Verified Purchase

Thant Myint-U made is name as one of the more popular historians of Burma with his book The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma . That book was well written and Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia follows along in that path.

The best part of the book is that it combines a history of Burma with travelogues from Northeast India and Southwest China. As Thant Myint-U observes, these regions are both important for Burma yet often get left out of the conventional accounts of Burma. He argues that Burma's future is tied to its geography and that Burma's place in between the rising giants of India and China will dictate its economic development.

This book is a great read for armchair travelers or readers just getting interested in Burma. However, if offers less to Burma watchers or readers intimately familiar with the country. Anybody who reads Irrawaddy or Democratic Voice of Burma regularly will be familiar with the portion on Burma. The sections on India and China might present new material, but are somewhat shallow in comparison. Especially in China, Thant Myint-U doesn't seem to have any particular expertise or familiarity. In fact, I think in retrospect those sections would have benefitted from co-authors more familiar with those regions.

A cautionary note is in order. This book was published in September 2011, only 3 months ago. However, events in Burma have moved quickly. Burma's new government has made several decisions that upset China, while at the same time Hillary Clinton visited in December. While it's probably too far to say that this entire book is obsolete, the conclusions and forecasts probably are. That's certainly not Thant Myint-U's fault, but readers should be aware.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

P. H.

Excellent, Must Read Book for Diplomats and Business Executives

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book is excellent in many ways, among which is the author's and his team's exacting abilities to capture the essence of Burma in 326 pages. One's study of Burma, India and China would not be complete without reading this book. I learned more about my motherland from this book than from all other materials I've studied combined.

This book must be read by US diplomats, politicians and business leaders because the Sleeping Giant, aka China, has awaken and has made great inroads in Burma, a country which also holds strategic importance for the US and other Western economies. While Washington has come to the party late, it's better late than never and Burmese people will embrace Americans. This book provides context and deep insights as to why the Burmese people will embrace Americans, whose own nation too was once a British colony.

Through this book, one can see the parallels between Ancient Rome (and Greece) and Ancient Burma. This book is a call to diplomats and business executives from all nations to take heed of what China has been able to achieve in Burma and Yunnan. The players in the dysfunctional and inept Washington Establishment, particularly those in the Obama Administration, could learn tremendously from this book. As they say in academia, publish or parish. For Washington, it's get your HOUSE in order, or China will in fact become way too powerful.

This book shows why Burma, with its nascent democratic tendencies, should be embranced and helped by the West. Burma will soon assume a signficant role in the calculas that determines the balance of power among all major economies, including BRIC, USA, Europe and even the Middle East. This book helps one appreciate Burma's significance, which China has long realized and thus began ramping up its investments in Burma after the Cold War.

Although this book is densely packed with insightful facts, it's easy to read.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Miemie Winn Byrd

Beyond Today's Headlines

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2011

Verified Purchase

Thant Myint-U's new book is wonderfully written in a similar style as his last book, The River of Lost Foot Steps. I especially enjoyed Thant's style of storytelling on history of Burma -- nestled in a larger geopolitical and economic context of the period and relating back to the present day through his personal travel observations. His ability to connect the dots -- how current situations linked with historical events and how Burma's past was intertwined with more familiar European, Asian, and maritime history -- accentuated how Burma was and has always been inextricably coupled to the globalization phenomena despite today's popular perception of isolation. His account of anthropological and linguistic ties between Burmese and its neighbors and conquerors provoked me to rethink about their influence on modern day Burmese culture and language. Thant was able to capture the essence of Burmese people, intricacies of Burmese history, and the complexity of Burma's relationships with its neighbors. He brought to life sights, sounds, and smells of Yangon, Mandalay, Maymyo, Shwedagon Pagoda, Irrawaddy river, etc..
This is not your father's history book. I appreciated Thant's ability to weave morsels of human interest stories such as Colonel Henry Morshead's mysterious murder in Maymyo and to shed light on some of very little known facts like how Herbert Hoover made his fortune through mining in Burma. So, for those who already knew a lot about Burma, this is a good book for thinking about the linkages between the present and the past and various possibilities and opportunities for Burma as the neighboring two giants rise to the global scene. For those who knew Burma mostly through the lens of the military junta, violence, and oppression, this book painted a picture of rich, diverse, and intricate historical and geopolitical landscape of Burma and the resilience and vibrancy of its people. For hundreds of years, Burma is geographically situated at one of the world's critical junctions. Today, the Burmese has arrived at another political and economic crossroads as Asia forges forward.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust

Follow the Author

Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia Hardcover – September 13, 2011

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Thant Myint-U

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.