The Hidden History of Burma

Abstract

Interpretation on how the political history of a ‘mysterious’ country like Burma has been many and cross-firing in multiple senses. Through an interesting life as a grand-son of the late former UN Secretary-General U Thant, an intern in UN-related think tank in Geneva, a founder of All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, the author of this book Thant Myint-U tries to re-tell a story about race, capitalism and attempts to democracy. Using the common technique in historiography known as a narration of turning points, the author creates a chronographic episode for the political history of Burma through people-made moments that define the movement of politics and democracy into certain direction. Nevertheless, Thant Myint-U finds that at certain disjuncture, he loses track of what is coming. This book opens a larger horizon for people who are ignorant of the political and democratic history of Burma that turns out to be interesting and volatile; the paradox of this book is that the realization that the more unpredictable a political history, the more foreseeable it becomes. Chaos is almost certain.