ISBN 978-983-56-0034-0
Order Code 8 093
US$19.00
Kuala Lumpur 1977, 342 pp., 23 pp. illus., 1
page in col., pbk.
Abbott, Gerry; Inroads into Burma :
A Traveller’s Anthology
Protected by jungle‑covered mountain ranges, the lands ruled by the Burmese
Court were for a long time jealously guarded by kings who chose to remain
aloof from the outside world.
With the coming of the Age of Steam access
to the sequestered kingdom was much easier, and when it fell prey to British
imperialism the country was ‘opened up’. Nevertheless, soon after becoming an
independent republic the country once more pursued a policy of limited foreign
contact.
One consequence of such geographical and cultural insulation is that
most outsiders are uninformed about the country now known as Myanmar.
This anthology contains sequences of fascinating information covering
almost four centuries of Burmese history.
The passages are drawn from travelers’
accounts, many of which are rare documents or books that are difficult to
come by. Tourists, academics, and students alike will find a wealth of interesting
detail in its pages.
ISBN 978-974-8495-30-9
Order Code 21301
US$21.00
Bangkok 1988, 269 pp., illus. by author, 165
x 215 mm
Aung Aung Taik , Visions of Shwedagon
The biography of a Burmese painter exiled in the USA. When a sensitive man,
a painter and Buddhist, is separated from his homeland, culture and co-religionists
by the universal experience of emigration, what happens to him? Aung
Aung Taik underwent that experience.
Ranging from the social elite of Burmese
society to the fast-food supermarket culture of America, this treatise overcomes
the past through love.
It hands down as instructive a guide as any young painter
could want on the genesis of that craft and its relationship to Buddhist teaching.
An Asian in America, an artist in the world, few modern writers explore so
profoundly the immediate and personal meaning of dharma.
ISBN 978-1-877979-15-6
Order Code 5 976
US$18.00
Dekalb 1990, 76 pp., 150 x 230 mm, pbk.
Aung-Twin, Michael; Irrigation in the Heartland of Burma:
Foundations of
the Pre-colonial Burmese State
For much of the monarchical period, the most stable component of the pre-colonial
economy of Burma was the production of paddy in the irrigated plains of
Upper Burma in what is commonly known as the dry zone.
Virtually all known
dynasties in Burmese history since the last two centuries of the first millennium
B.C. have acknowledged that reality by establishing their capitals in, and
therefore basing their political existence on, these areas watered by perennial
tributaries of the Irrawaddy.
ISBN 978-974-8434-50-6
Order Code 22 014
US$30.00
Bangkok 1998, 310 pp., illus., 150 x 210
mm, pbk.
Ball, Desmond; Burma’s Military Secrets
Signals Intelligence (SIGIN T)
from the Second World War to Civil War and Cyber Warfare
This first book on signals warfare provides a unique view into all of the important
military and political developments in Burma over the past half century
based on the most secret and authoritative intelligence sources, i.e., signals
intelligence (SIGINT) which involves radio interception, telecommunications
surveillance, crypt analysis or code-breaking, and analysis of supposedly confidential
signals.
This book is filled with fascinating and explosive revelations
about many important issues, such as: • the special relationship between Burma and China.
Over the past decades, China has become Burma’s principal ally, major arms supplier,
and only secret intelligence partner. • the opium and heroin trade.
Burma now accounts for two-thirds of
the world’s total production of heroin and the drug armies maintain
sophisticated intelligence collection and communications systems. • the SIGINT activities of the ethnic insurgent organizations, such as the
Karen National Army.
• the battles at Manerplaw and Kawmura in January–February 1995,
which involved some 15, 000–20, 000 troops, and which resulted in
the loss of these strongholds to the Burmese Army.
• the use of electronic surveillance by the military junta in Rangoon to
control dissent and rebellion.
• the organization of Burma’s security and intelligence establishment,
including the dreaded Military Intelligence Service (MIS) headed by
Khin Nyunt, and the new Cyber Warfare Department.
• the build-up of Burma’s conventional arms capabilities, giving it the
largest armed forces in Asia by the turn of the century.
ISBN 978-974-480-058-9
Order Code 22 435
US$30.00
(Bangkok 2004) 332 pp., 150 x 210 mm,
pbk.
Bastian, Adolf; A Journey in Burma (1861–1862) :
Adolf BastianTravels in
South-East Asia: Vol. 1
Volume I contains the travelogue written by Dr Adolf Bastian during his journeys
in Burma. Bastian was a renowned ethnographer, who founded both the
Ethnological Museum in Berlin and the Berlin Anthropological Society.
In
Burma he insisted on learning Burmese so as to obtain first-hand information
about everything that struck his keen interest in the everyday and religious life
of various ethnic groups.
He traveled through Burma’s disputed areas, which
were the subject of peace negotiations between the British and the Burmese
king, just after the Second Burmese War had ended.
Bastian held numerous
talks with key British officials.
Journeying on the Irrawaddy, he visited small
towns and pagodas hidden from travelers to arrive at Pagan’s pagoda fields,
where he spent time inspecting important monuments.
We learn about many of
Burma’s most beautiful pagodas, about its oil wells, about the role of Armenians
in trade and the palace, about the religious customs of various ethnic groups,
life in the bazaars, various types of fortune-telling, agricultural practices, forest
products, dacoits and other criminals, omens and superstitions, American,
French and Italian missionaries and their arguments with Buddhists, Burmese
and European medical practices, the various forms of the Burmese language in
use, and the inevitable celebrations.
Bastian encountered Karen, Shan, Talein
(Mon), Toungthu (Pa-O) and other tribes people, and visited the former Burmese
capitals of Ava, abandoned Amarapura, and Mandalay.
A forced longer
stay in Mandalay, involving a string of audiences with the Burmese king,
allowed him to paint a detailed sketch of the city, life in the countryside, and
the idiosyncrasies of palace politics. At the king’s personal invitation, Bastian
studied Buddhism while residing in the palace. Mandalay was then still in its
infancy—an artificially created new capital away from English territory. Continuing
his Journey on the River Sittang, he visited several provincial capitals.
He also provides much about the influence of the Talaing, whom he calls the‘Talein’ (today’s Mon), and their vanishing language and culture.
Eventually
Bastian returned on the Sittang river to the Burmese coast, from where he traveled
on via Moulmein to the Siamese border.
ISBN 978-81-7648-338-4
Order Code 8 663
US$25.00
New Delhi 2002, 90 pp., 7 pp. illus., 1 map.
185 x 240 mm
Blackburn, Terence R.; The British Lion, the Burmese Tiger
Campbell and
Maha Bandula. Vol. 1:
Actors on the Burmese Stage
In the early 1820s, the Burmese seriously considered marching to Bilat (England),
sacking London, and placing one of their princes on the English throne.
Such ignorance of the power of the British was to bring about the first of three
conflicts between the two countries, during which the Burmese, utterly surprised
and frustrated with the superior firepower of the ‘white faced strangers’,
often inflicted the most appalling tortures and mutilations on their captives.
The catalyst, which brought Campbell, the British Lion, and Maha Bandula,
the Burmese Tiger, on a collision course, was Burma’s expansionist policies.
Bengal was threatened, and the British declared war.
The Burmese fiercely
defended their almost medieval kingdom with antiquated weapons, the invaders
replied with rockets and heavy artillery firing shot and shells. Bandula should
have by sheer weight of numbers defeated the British but his battle plans were
flawed.
Campbell seized his opportunity and routed the Burmese. Bandula was
killed, a huge indemnity demanded, and rich coastal regions were surrendered
to the British.
Yet today, despite his humiliating defeat, the name of Bandula is
remembered with pride by the Burmese, while that of Campbell is known only
to a few dozen historians.
ISBN 978-81-7648-361-2
Order Code 8 664
US$25.00
New Delhi 2002, 138 pp., 6 pp. illus., 2 pp.
in col., 1 map, 185 x 250 mm
Blackburn, Terence R.; A Sadistic Scholar
Captain Latter’s War. Vol. 2:
Actors on the Burmese Stage.
The Second Anglo-Burmese war was one of the many small conflicts of
Queen Victoria’s reign which are now largely forgotten; giving rise to the
perception of Britain as a high principled power determined to bring the
benefits of civilization and trade to the benighted natives, drawing the sword
more in sorrow than in anger.
This book sets out to show the deceit practiced
by the Government of India, deceived and provoked the Burmese King
in the cynical knowledge that he would have to go to war.
The actions of
Captain Latter are examined, and the pivotal part he played in the events
as a junior officer and interpreter.
The rivalry between the Indian Navy, the
Royal Navy, and the Military, are observed, as is the inexplicable behavior
of the military commander, which brought thunderous rebukes from the
Times, in which they were joined by the English language newspapers in
India, who, almost without exception, condemned him for his tardiness in
initiating action; when he did act the results were often open to criticism,
which was loudly voiced by the press.
In conclusion, the author proposes an
unusual solution for the murder of Captain Latter, Deputy Commissioner of
Prome, British Burma.
ISBN 978-81-7648-362-9
Order Code 8 665
US$25.00
New Delhi 2002, 102 pp., 8 pp. illus., 1 map,
185 x 250 mm
Blackburn, Terence R.; An Ill-conditioned Cad: Mr. Moyland of the Times.
Vol. 3
Actors on the Burmese Stage
During its long history The Times newspaper has employed many colorful
characters to report on world events, among whom Edward Kryan Moylan must
rank high in that pantheon, albeit now almost entirely unknown.
The son of a Dublin innkeeper, he became a barrister.
He was almost certainly associated
with the Irish republican movement possibly writing for their newspaper The
Irish People.
When things got too hot in Ireland he decamped to the Gold Coast
and so was on the spot to witness the events that led the Ashanti War of 1873.
He
sent home accounts to The Times before they were able to send their own man
out. His reports were such that he was retained and at the conclusion of the war,
such was the power of The Times he was given an appointment as a magistrate
in the West Indies.
There he so disgraced himself that he was promoted to be
Attorney General of Grenada.
Once in a position of power his behavior became
so intolerable that he was removed from his post and subsequently disbarred.
Moylan was faced with a dilemma.
He could not go to Ireland and if he stayed
in England there was a good possibility that he would face charges of malfeasance.
He therefore decided to go to India, and then to Burma, when it seemed
that there was the possibility of war with that country.
He promptly renewed his
association with The Times and was appointed their special correspondent, covering
the Third Anglo-Burmese war and the subsequent annexation of Upper
Burma.
This book charts his malevolent progress as a discreditable journalist,
blackmailer, liar, and traducer of the reputations of those in high office, and
culminates with his death in 1895 at the age of 51.
Had he lived longer, no
doubt his final years would have brought about further excesses and would have
resulted in his either being imprisoned or ennobled.
ISBN 978-81-7648-998-0
Order Code 9 153
US$50.00
New Delhi 2006, 502 pp., 19 pp. illus., 3 pp.
in col., 4 pp. maps, 190 x 250 mm
Blackburn, Terence R.; Burma and the Enemy Within
A hundred and twenty years ago, on 29 November 1885, the British finally
acquired the remainder of the country of Burma in the name of the Queen
Empress although the country was in fact annexed by the mill owners of Lancashire,
the cutlers of Sheffield and the merchants of London.
Their Chambers of Commerce had bombarded Lord Randolph Churchill,
the Secretary of State for India, with memos demanding that the country be
opened to their goods and that access be made through Burma to Yunnan and
China, this they regarded as an El Dorado. In fact, it proved to be a chimera, no
fortunes were to come out of China.
Two wars preceded the final act. In the first, the Burmese lost their maritime
provinces, further, the King of Burma was to cede Arakan, Ramree, Cheduba
and Sandoway to the East India Company.
He also had to give up all rights to
Assam, Jaintia, Cachar and Manipur, and pay the crippling sum of one million
pounds sterling.
The second war resulted in the annexation of Pegu that left Upper Burma
landlocked. While, the third war arose out of a dispute between the King’s
Ministers and the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation, who were accused, not
without reason, of cheating the King out of his royalties.
The humiliation of a
native court imposing a fine on the Corporation for theft was too much to bear,
and the British Government used its might to crush the kingdom and depose its
king.
An unbiased reader will be shocked by some of the actions of the British,
which is not, of course, to say that the Burmese were entirely without fault.
It is
my contention that the scales of justice come down in favor of the Burmese.
ISBN 978-974-7534-91-7
Order Code 22 276
US$33.00
Bangkok 2002, repr. from 1897, New Preface
by Guy Lubeigt; 513 pp., 66 pp. Illus.,
20 pp. maps, 135 x 210 mm, pbk.
Bird, G. W.; Wanderings in Burma : Burmese Historical Reprint Series No. 2
An early guidebook from the late 19th century. Contains information on the
country, its people, old cities, and many holy sites.
The first part includes
chapters on: Geographical Summary, Shan States, General Information, Languages
of Burma, The Burmese Language, Religion in Burma, Chief Towns of
Burma, Historical Summary, Burmese Administration, The Irrawaddy Flotilla
Company and List of Important Personages.
The second part traces 24 routes
through Burma: Rangoon and environs, Excursions from Rangoon, Rangoon
to Pegu, Rangoon to Prome by Rail, Prome and Environs, Rangoon to Bassein,
Rangoon to Prome by River, Rangoon to Moulmein, Rangoon or Moulmein
to Tavoy and Mergui, Rangoon to Akyab by Coasting Steamer, Mandalay to
Prome by Steamer, Mandalay City or Fort Dufferin, To Sagaing, Amarapura,
Mingun, Ava, Shwebo, Pagan, Mandalay to Bahmo by Steamer, Rangoon to
Mandalay by Rail, Mandalay to Mogaung by Rail, Pakokku to Kindat and
Homalhi, and Mandalay to May Myo.
ISBN 978-974-480-088-6
Order Code 22 489
US$30.00
Bangkok 2006, 199 pp., illus. 30 in col., 150
x 210 mm
Bruns, Axel R.H.; Burmese Puppetry
This work is an expanded version of the author’s PhD thesis. As a long
term resident of Rangoon he has close contacts with the craftsmen who
make these beautiful marionettes, the puppeteers who perform with them
and their modern brothers on stage as well as the audiences who watch the
shows.
This comprehensive tome describes Burmese puppetry’s glorious past as
well as its more recent practice.
Once the most dramatic art form, sponsored by
the kings, it nearly fell into oblivion in the 20th century due to competition from
rival performing arts and the introduction of cinemas, and more recently video
and DVD.
In addition to vivid descriptions of traditional characters and themes of
Burmese puppetry, the author draws parallels to related arts in neighbouring
countries such as China, Indonesia, and Thailand.
He also covers the impact
of tourism and its influence on the revival of the marionette theater.
The
craftsmanship involved in producing puppets is covered in detail making it
thus of special value for museum curators and collectors of Burmese puppets.
Photographs, line drawings, a detailed glossary, and references complete the
text.
ISBN 978-1-85065-283-0
Order Code 7 835
US$48.00
London 1997, 289 pp., 2 maps, 145 x 225
mm
Bryant, Raymond L.; The Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma
Bryant examines the political consequences of the advent of a Forest Department
in 1856 on forest access and conflict in Burma.
He situates Burmese forest
politics in comparative perspective to illustrate the broader significance of the
Burmese experience, notably in terms of the rapidly growing political ecology
literature on environment change in the Third World.
ISBN 978-983-56-0010-4
WL Order Code 8 115
US$17.00
Kuala Lumpur, 1997, 123 pp., 42 pp. illus.,
130 x 200 mm, pbk.
Canoi, Ellen Corwin
Faded Splendour, Golden Past :
Urban Images of Burma
Faded Splendour, Golden Past: Urban Images of Burma focuses on Burma’s
best-known and most-often visited cities: Pagan, Mandalay, and Rangoon.
It
analyses the role each city played at critical periods in Burma’s history from
ancient times up to World War II.
Pagan and Mandalay were both associated
with the rise and fall of two of Burma’s great empires founded by the Pagan and
Konbaung dynasties.
Even though centuries seperate them, there are surprising
similarities between the two royal capitals.
In contrast, everything about
Rangoon from its physical layout to the amenities which it offered were vastly
different.
ISBN 978-974-480-045-9
Order Code 22 454
US$69.00
Bangkok 2005, 333 pp., 2 pp. maps, 70 pp.
illus. in col., 210 x 300 mm, pbk.
Chew, Anne-May; Cave-Temples of Po Win Taung, Central Burma:
Architecture,
Sculpture and Murals
This is the first comprehensive book about Po Win Taung, a soft volcanic rock
hill, situated to the north‑west of Central Burma.
It is a huge, multi‑level religious
complex with about 800 rock‑cut caves, which vary from a simple meditation
cell to an imposing temple.
The facades are decorated in low and high
relief, with some entrances flanked by human or animal sculptures in the round.
The interiors of the grottoes contain numerous statues carved into the rock and
over 100 caves are adorned with mural paintings illustrating traditional scenes
(the 28 Buddha of the Past, previous lives of Buddha Gotama, and the Life of
Buddha) including scenes of daily life.
For the most part, the works of Po Win
Taung date from the second Ava period (16th-18th centuries), and to a lesser
extent, the colonial period (last quarter of the 19th until mid 20th century).
This book defines the characteristics of the Nyaung Yan style, generally
designated as the Ava style, which is little known to the art world.
The artistic
treasures of Po Win Taung allow us to explore and comprehend this style to a
much greater extent.
They show a profound syncretism harmonizing local pre-
Buddhist beliefs and the fundamental teachings of Theravada Buddhism as well
as the different sources of inspiration (Chinese, Indian, Portuguese, Siamese
Muslim and European) which have influenced the Nyaung Yan style.
ISBN 978-974-8434-67-4
WL Order Code 22 077
US$18.00
Bangkok 1999, 128 pp., 150 x 210 mm,
pbk.
Clark, Carol.; Seeing Red :
A View from Inside the Ruby Trade
The book is based on the author’s first hand experience working for one of
Bangkok’s largest gem trading companies.
It documents the ruby trade in
Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Called ma naw na ya in Burma—“Wish-fulfilling
stones”—rubies are believed to grant their wearer’s wishes. Both the trader’s
modern-day mysteries and old traditions are the subject of this inside view.
ISBN 978-974-8495-25-5
Order Code 21 400
US$30.00
Bangkok 1990, repr. from 1904; 450 pp.,
154 pp. illus., 150 x 210 mm
Clifford, Hugh; Further India
A history of European exploration of Burma, Malaya, Siam, and Indo-China
from the earliest times.
This reprint remains the best overview of European
exploration and discovery in Southeast Asia, with 6 additional old maps from
1904.
Since the publication of Further India, other authors have written in
detail about some of the explorations mentioned in it, but none has attempted
a work of the same scope. Not only does the book provide a great range of
material but it gives data which are difficult to find elsewhere, such as on
the opening up of Burma.
The work remains a solid and valuable source of
information, and those interested in the geography, topography, economy and
history of Southeast Asia as well as stories of courage and daring will wish to
have a copy of the book.
ISBN 978-81-8370-007-8
Order Code 9 248
US$32.00
New Dehli 2005, 343 pp. 145 x 225 mm
Das, Garudas & N. Bijoy Singh & C.J. Thomas; Indo-Myanmar BorderTrade :
Status, Problems and Potentials
India shares 1643 km long border with Myanmar that passes through the northeastern
states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.
With the growth of regional trading arrangements, border areas are now
viewed as economic corridors rather than far flung peripheries.
It is from this
perspective that the contributors in this volume have examined the status, problems
and potentials of Indo-Myanmar border trade based on resource, production
and demand structures across the border.
The book also attempts to figure
out the implications of India’s Look East policy for her north eastern region. It
also pleads for “border trade” as a strategic tool for the economic development
of the hitherto neglected regions across the border
ISBN 978-967-65-3070-7
Order Code 8 081
US$28.00
Kuala Lumpur 1995, 156 pp., fully illus., 16
pp. in color, 195 x 255 mm
Dumarçay, Jacques & Michael Smithies; Cultural Sites of Burma, Thailand,
and Cambodia
The considerable number of mainland Southeast Asia’s ancient cultural sites
are increasingly visited and appreciated by overseas travelers.
The complex of
Angkor in Cambodia. Burma has its equivalent in Pagan and in the more recent
center of Mandalay, where the last Burmese king held court.
Thailand has a
large number of monumental architectural sites in addition to the well-known
ones of Ayuthia and Sukhothai.
The religious structures that have survived are
given prominence in this volume.10
No ISBN
WL Order Code 9 068
New Delhi 1999, reprint from 1937; 44 pp.
14 pp. illus., 220 x 280 mm
Duroiselle, Chas; The Ananda Temple at Pagan “This memoir is one of the series of monographs of the Ananda Temple at
Pagan whose iconographic treasures are so numerous that they could not be
treated adequately in a single monograph.
The present memoir deals with the
architectural details and other features noticeable in the temple which have not
been already adequately dealt with elsewhere; and a few important facts regarding
the life of its founder, King Kyanzittha (1084-111 2 A.D.), and some events
connected with the temple itself are added . . .” (from the preface)
ISBN 978-974-480-005-3
WL Order Code 22 247
US$18.00
Bangkok 2002, first English trans. of 1901;
192 pp., 12 pp. illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Ehlers, Otto E.; On Horseback through Indochina. Vol. 1: Assam, Burma,
and the Andamans and Nicobars
This volume provides an account of the adventurous journey German traveler
Otto Ehlers undertook in 1891–1892.
This volume starts with an elephant hunt
in Assam and ends on the Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea.
Ehlers traveled
to the Khassia Mountains with the chief elephant hunter of the Kheddah
Department of British India, sailed on the Brahmaputra up north and followed
British and Gurkha troops in their military campaign against the Maharaja of
Manipur.
Then he followed one of the British columns to Mandalay, from where
he traveled to the ruby mines in the Shan States administered from Mogok,
and further to Bhamo to end this trip on the Irrawaddy in Rangoon.
He then visited the Andaman Islands and its English penal colony and various islands of
the Nicobar group.
Ehlers interacted in his typical straightforward and humorous
manner with primitive tribes and high officials alike.
His quick-witted pen
describes the Garos, several tribes of the Naga Mountains, the inhabitants of
semi-independent Manipur, Mandalay and its bazaars, British and Gurkha
army life in India and Upper Burma, the operation of ruby mines and their lack
of profitability, the jail and zoological garden of Rangoon, the conditions of
convicts in the Andamans, and various tribes of the Nicobars.
ISBN 978-974-7534-74-0
WL Order Code 22 225
US$18.00
Bangkok 2001, first English trans. of 1894;
274 pp., 28 pp. illus., l50 x 2l0 mm, pbk.
Ehlers, Otto E.; On Horseback through Indochina. Vol. 2. :
Burma, North
Thailand, the Shan States, and Yunnan
The book provides an account of the adventurous journey German traveler Otto
Ehlers undertook in 1891–1892.
This volume chronicles the journey starting
from Moulmein on Burma’s Andaman Sea coast and ending in Poofang on
the border between the Sipsong Pana, now Yunnan, and French Tonkin, now
Vietnam.
Ehlers travels an unusual route; with intent to wander away from the
itinerary followed by earlier explorers.
Traveling without passports or official
laissez-passers, but with letters of recommendation from Prince Damrong,
Siam’s Minister of the Interior, and the British Consul in Chiang Mai, Ehlers
cunningly used the locals’ fear of officialdom and his own imagination.
His
skillful use of both helped him evade all kinds of impositions, calamities, and
problems in dealing with food supplies and means of transportation to cross
through British and partly Chinese-claimed Shan States from Chiang Rai in
Siam to Chiang Tung.
When Ehlers and his party were refused entry by Chinese
officials coming from Yunnan, he set off at night, headed for the border
with France’s Tonkin colony, and escaped through the tea gardens of Ybang in
the Sipsong Pana.
In the Shan States Ehlers observed the annual rocket firing
competition and describes market towns and mule-caravans plying the Yunnan-
Burma trails.
Along his journey, Ehlers finds the time to observe and record
what strikes him as unusual or at variance with other accounts of the numerous
tribes and cities in the area.
Hundreds of singular encounters with people are
described and the logistics of shoestring traveling are documented in a unique
and colorful style.
ISBN 978-0-19-588608-5
WL Order Code 8 654
US$86.00
Kuala Lumpur, 2002, 416 pp., illus., 64 pp.,
in col., 2 pp. maps, 280 x 320 mm
Fraser-Lu, Sylvia; Burmese Craft Past and Present
In this work, the author introduces the reader to the scope and beauty of Burmese
crafts by exploring the historical background, the foundations of Burma’s
artistic traditions, and the temple and pagoda arts of brick, stucco, sculpture,
and painting, before embarking on a systematic survey of the development and
evolution of Burma’s major crafts, such as bronze and ironwork, wooden architecture,
wood-carving, gold, silver, and jewelry, ceramics, lacquer, textiles and
costume, books, paper, baskets, mats, and umbrellas.
ISBN 978-974-8496-51-1
WL Order Code 21 858
US$23.00
Bangkok 1996, repr. from 1922; 253 pp.,
150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Gilhodes, A.; The Kachin: Religion and Customs
This book is a record of the myths and tales of the Kachin peoples of Burma
amongst whom the author lived.
He discusses his findings with the indigenous
specialists in the Kachin religion, the Jaiwa, who are ritual bards or reciters of
the myths and tales in question.
As a direct result of Edmund Leach’s work, Political Systems of Highland
Burma, the Kachin people played a major role in the development of social
anthropology.
Leach made it clear that we can only comprehend the nature of
culture and society in Southeast Asia if we understand that each such society
is the outcome of processes of inter-group political and social relations, where
the boundary of each such group is set by the existence and organizational
character of its neighbors.
He showed that Kachin society of the mountains
of northernmost Burma had its principle structural limit in the neighboring
Shan system of lowland principalities.
The Shan are Tai speaking people.
Kachin society was shaped by its attempt to live in the neighborhood of Shan
society. Such a tribal society could not, for all sorts of reasons having to
do with the nature of life in the mountains, readily adopt the Shan political
order.
When this was tried, either it failed or the Kachin community in
question tended to become absorbed by the Shan. Indeed, the very dynamics
of traditional Kachin society lie in its tendency to oscillate between a form
of organization under powerful chiefs that comes close to the Shan ideal of
ruling princes, and a form of organization that was forced to reject the claims
of such dominance.
Not surprisingly, this sort of cross-cultural awareness
tends to constitute much of a people’s sense of their own identity and hence
becomes embedded in their basic religious ideas, cosmology, mythology and
way of life.
Gilhodes’s book serves as an essential foundation of empirical data for
Leach’s now classical monograph, and is the only published example, in any
detail, of the kind of cross-cultural awareness that characterizes the upland
peoples of Southeast Asia.
The documentation of this material is of importance
if only because scholars of the region have come to rely so heavily upon Leach’s
1954 book that they have long since lost sight of the rich material lying behind
the analytical argument, and of the fact that there is an earlier literature that
documents it in considerable detail.
ISBN 978-974-480-022-0
WL Order Code 22 315
US$23.00
Bangkok 2002, repr. of 1860; 363 pp., 4 pp.
illus., 195 x 210 mm, pbk.
Gouger, Henry; Two Years Imprisonment in Burma (1824–26):
Burmese
Historical Reprint Series No. I
Gouger a British merchant witnessed at first hand the traumatic effects of
the first Anglo-Burmese war on the Court and population of the Kingdom of
Ava.
He was jailed in Let ma yoon prison in Ava where he spent two years on
death row, along with six others suspected of being spies, one of whom was
Dr. Adoniram Judson, whose life and work is well documented elsewhere.
The
author offers a unique account of a crucial period in the history of Burma,
which is valuable for historians, scholars, researchers and students alike.
Having
rendered his experiences into a book 35 years after the events, Gouger takes
care to explain the local context, providing carefully selected and informative
observations, with much thought for the Burmese themselves, with an introduction
by Guy Lubeigt.
ISBN 978-974-8495-27-9
WL Order Code 21 243
US$36.00
Bangkok 2000, repr. from 1890; 532 pp.,
illus., 8 maps, 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Hallet, Holt S.; A Thousand Miles on an Elephant in the Shan States
This text presents an excellent overview of the topography, economy, peoples,
customs, legends and local histories of Northern Thailand in the latter
part of the nineteenth century.
Consequently, it is immensely valuable to
anyone interested in the area and has long been recognized for its merit by
scholars.
The book, first published in 1890, resulted from Hallet’s thorough
fact-finding mission through the region in 1876 when he was searching for
the best route for a railway by which British goods could be transported
from Burma to Thailand, and more importantly, to China.
The information
which he carefully compiled makes this book an important reference source
even today.
ISBN 978-974-7534-20-7
WL Order Code 22 119
US$18.00
Bangkok 2000, repr. from 1917; 236 pp., 12
pp. illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Halliday, Robert; The Mons of Burma and Thailand. Vol. 1. The Talaings
This is a two-volume selection of his most important writings on the subject.
Volume 1 is a reprint of his monograph, The Talaings, which was originally
published in 1917 in Rangoon.
Well over thirteen centuries ago the Mons
established the earliest Buddhist civilization on the Southeast Asian mainland,
and it was through them the Burmese and Northern Thais received not
only their script, along with literary and technical texts, but also adopted
their indigenous religious practices and administrative systems.
Halliday’s
assumptions about the important historical role played by the Mons, reflecting
the views of C. O. Blagden, with whom he collaborated, have been vindicated
in the 1960s following the discoveries of early archaeological sites and epigraphic
data in Thailand.
Therefore, Halliday’s work is a unique source on
Mon culture and village life at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Halliday’s
historical photographs, incorporated in Volume 1, are complemented
by photos by Christian Bauer, the editor, taken in Burma and Thailand, presented
in Volume 2.
IS BN 978-974-7534-19-1
WL Order Code 22 120
US$21.00
Bangkok 2000, repr. from 1923; 340 pp., 8
pp. color illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Halliday, Robert; The Mons of Burma and Thailand. Vol. 2. Selected
Articles
Volume 2 features all of Halliday’s articles published in the Journal of the
Burma Research Society as well as his two other monographs, A History
of Kings (1923), and The Story of the Founding of Pegu (1923).
This volume
also has photographs by Christian Bauer, the editor of this volume of
reprints.
IS BN 978-974-480-006-0
WL Order Code 22 292
US$42.00
Bangkok 2002, 246 pp., fully illus., 64 pp.
in color, 210 x 295 mm
Ivanoff, Jacques & Thierry Lejard in coll. with L. & G. Gansser; A Journey
through the Mergui Archipelago
Mergui Archipelago
Project made five expeditions between 1998 and 2001.
They resulted in the rediscovery of one of the most beautiful places on earth
which had been isolated for many years.
A cooperative and scientific project
had been set up to promote the local heritage, nomad culture and the Burmese
historical and cultural inheritance.
The reader will discover ancient rock paintings,
the archaeological landmarks of the Indian world on its way to Southeast
Asia, the colorful history of the region since the first arrival of the Westerners;
he will also share the Moken nomads way of life.
ISBN 978-974-8495-53-8
Order Code 21 481
US$48.00
Bangkok 2003, 168 pp., illus., in col. 210 x
290 mm, pbl
Karow, Otto ; Burmese Buddhist Sculpture :
The Johan Möger Collection
This Offers the reader an admirable survey and description of a sacral art that
is yet too little studied, the rich Burmese tradition.
Of particular importance
in this collection are the pieces forged in the Shan States depicting various
incidents in the life of the Buddha as well as the many pieces representing
the Buddha in royal attire, herein designated the “Jambupati”-type.
Whether
the artifacts displayed are of narrative scenes, single figures, votive stupas,
or house temples we have in this collection the full range of craftsmanship
expressing, in various “gradients of quality”, Burmese Buddhist iconographic
ideals.
ISBN 978-974-8496-86-3
Order Code 21 626
US$18.00
Bangkok 1996, 160 pp., 8 pp. illus., 150 x
210 mm
Kin Oung, Who Killed Aung San? : Second Expanded Edition
This book provides a graphic reconstruction of a controversial episode in Burmese
history: the murder of U Aung San and his six ministerial colleagues on
19 July 1947.
The course of Burmese history could well have been very different
if Aung San had lived to become independent Burma’s first prime minister.
Based on eye-witness accounts, this book sheds much new light on the events of
this period.
The facts of the killing itself seem relatively straightforward, and
are documented in the records of the assassins’ trial, but there remain many
unanswered questions: Who really stood to benefit from the death of Aung San?
Was there a mastermind, or masterminds, other than U Saw (who was convicted
of the murder) behind the plot? If so, who were these shadowy figures, and how
were they able to escape? It is the author’s investigation of these issues that gives
the book its particular value. Kin Oung is especially well qualified to write this
account for he has family connections that provide a direct link with the events
of the late 1940s.
His late father, Major-General Tun Hla Oung of Burma’s
Imperial Police, and his late father-in-law, Justice Thaung Sein, played vital
roles in bringing to justice the assassins of Aung San.
It was the reminiscences
of his father-in-law, with their implication that events might not have been all
they appeared to be, that triggered Kin Oung’s interest in this tragic episode of
Burma’s history.
ISBN 978-0-89581-921-5
WL Order Code 5 241
US$17.00
Berkeley 1989, repr. from 1964; 238 pp., 140
x 215 mm, pbk.
King, Winston L.; A Thousand Lives Away:
Buddhism in Contemporary
Burma
The portrait presented here is essentially that of Burmese Buddhism “on the
hoof, ” as it is practiced by the rank and file of lay Buddhists, mirroring the
world as perceived through traditionalist Buddhist eyes.
For the most part it
is a strange world to Western perceptions—one almost from another planet,
one “a thousand lives away” from it, one of karma, endless rebirths, nats and
pagodas.
ISBN 978-974-7534-06-1
WL Order Code 22 113
US$21.00
Bangkok 1999, 345 pp., illus., 150 x 210
mm, pbk.
Kiryu, Minoru (Ed.), Industrial Development and Reforms in Myanmar :ASEAN and Japanese Perspectives
This report incorporates papers and research reports prepared in the framework
of the Symposium on Industrial Reform in Myanmar, sponsored by the Sasakawa
Southeast Asia Cooperation Fund.
Over a period of two years, researchers from
Japan, Myanmar, and Thailand pursued three objectives, reflected in the results
reported here:
To make a comprehensive examination of the problems that Myanmar’s
enterprises face as the country makes its transition to a market-oriented economy.
To gain knowledge of current problems relative to Myanmar’s enterprises
through conducting research and holding symposia for researchers and policymakers
both in and outside Myanmar.
To prepare policy recommendations for submission to the Government of
Myanmar based on the results of these processes, in an effort to aid in its task
of reforming the nation’s industrial policies.
Thus, a wealth of hitherto unavailable information has been collected and
is presented in this volume for the first time.
IS BN 978-974-7534-60-3
WL Order Code 22 227
US$23.00
Bangkok 2001, 350 pp., 8 pp. color illus.,
150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Longmuir, Marilyn V.; Oil in Burma :
The Extraction of “Earth-Oil” to
1914
This study describes the early indigenous hand-dug wells near Yenangyaung
(creek of stinking water) and the subsequent chain of events which, by the early
1900s, turned Burma’s oil fields into “a matter of great Imperial importance”
for the British Government.
The allure of these oil fields attracted not only
the twinza (Burmese oil miners), but a cash-strapped Burmese King, tenacious
Scottish oil men and investors, predatory oil companies and last but not least,
canny and foolish speculators.
IS BN 978-974-8434-61-2
WL Order Code 22 107
US$18.00
Bangkok 1999, 234 pp., 2 maps, 150 x 210
mm, pbk.
MacDonald, Martin; Kawthoolei Dreams, Malaria Nights :
Burma’s Civil
War
This daring book, the most accessible contemporary account of Burma’s civil
war, unravels a complex story that encompasses more than a dozen armies,
scores of ethnic groups, involves the opium warlords of the Golden Triangle, and
the rise of the democracy movement inside Burma.
For the last 50 years Burma
has been torn apart by political and ethnic insurgencies, shut off from the outside
world, and forgotten.
Today the country is ruled, as it has been since 1962, by a
brutal, corrupt, and incompetent military dictatorship.
The author, a freelance
journalist, made his first trip into insurgent Burma in 1989. Since then he has
traveled extensively, both alone and with insurgent groups, including an overland
trip in the company of Karen and Burmese student soldiers to the Andaman Sea,
a clandestine boat trip down the Irrawaddy River, a jungle trek in search of rhinos,
and an attempt to photograph Burmese slave-labor camps.
This fast-paced
and personal narrative captures both the romance and harsh reality of an ill-fated
revolution.
The plight of the Karen, an ethnic group fighting for a homeland in
the malaria-stricken mountains of southeastern Burma, is especially poignant. The old Karen veterans, who served under the British during World War II and began the present rebellion in 1949, together with two subsequent generations,
are still in the jungle, but now forced into refugee camps and ever-shrinking
parcels of Karen-held territory along the Thai-Burma border.
IS BN 978-974-8496-86-3
WL Order Code 21 934
US$33.00
Bangkok 1997, repr. from 1922; 350 pp., 140
x 210 mm, pbk.
Marshall, Harry Ignatius; The Karen People of Burma :
A Study in Anthropology
and Ethnology
A classical anthropological monograph written at a time when it was expected
that there should be at least one book on each “tribe”, and for sometime this
was considered the one book on the Karen.
It is full of data and, ironically, this
book is still the most recent general description of basically all aspects of Karen
culture in Burma.
Since it was written 75 years ago there are evidently many
current questions which the book cannot answer.
But it is still a significant ethnographic
study which has been widely read and widely quoted.
IS BN 978-0-8248-1342-1
WL Order Code 5 138
US$27.00
Edinburgh 1989, 412 pp., 135 x 210 mm
Maung Maung, U; Burmese Nationalist Movements 1940–1948
This study presents a fresh, and at times controversial, account of the Burmese
negotiations in the ‘struggle for independence’ and the role of such key figures
as Mountbatten, Aung San and Clement Attlee.
No IS BN
WL Order Code 754
US$15.00
Rangoon 1959, 153 pp., 135 x 210 mm
Maung Htin Aung : Folk Elements in Burmese
Buddhism
A work on the integrating power of Burmese Buddhism.
When Theravada Buddhism
became the national religion in the 11 th century there already existed
a number of primitive religious cults, the most important and most popular
of which were the worship of Nat spirits, astrology, and alchemy.
In addition
there also existed Mahayana Buddhism and Tantric or magical Buddhism. All
the different cults were given an artificial unity by the fact that they were all
under the patronage of the Ari monks.
These Ari monks had some acquaintance
with the Buddhist scriptures, gloried in the name of Buddha, and wore dark
brown robes and conical hats.
But they also presided over the Nat spirit festival
at which hundreds of animals were sacrificed.
The nine chapters of this book
deal with: folk elements in Burmese Buddhism; the nine Gods; the feast of the
New Year; the cult of alchemy; the cult of the magus; the Lord of the Great
Mountain; the thirty-seven Lords; initiation ceremonies; and the Ari monks and
the introduction of Buddhism.
IS BN 978-974-7534-45-0
WL Order Code 22 180
US$18.00
Bangkok 2000, repr. of 1990; 158 pp., 8 pp.
illus., 3 maps, 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
McEnery, John H.; Epilogue in Burma 1945–1948 :
The Military Dimensions
of British Withdrawal
This book presents the first fully-researched account of the Army’s dramatic
role in war-torn Burma from Japanese surrender to final evacuation. It presents
the achievements of the British, African, Indian Army and Burma Army units
of Burma Command.
The most important of these was the suppression in February–
April 1947 of an incipient “dacoit dictatorship” in central Burma aimed
at subverting the moderate government of Aung San, the Burman national hero.
The book also records what happened to the losers, the 70, 000 surrendered
Japanese troops. Beyond that, new light is thrown on the tragic assassinations
of Aung San and most of his ministerial colleagues in July 1947, absolving the
British authorities and HQ Burma Command of any vestige of responsibility
or blame.
The work sets out an accurate statement of force levels in Burma in
1945–48. In so doing it discredits the lamentably false picture presented by the
HM Stationery Office official history, Burma—The Struggle for Independence
1944–1948.
Using a hitherto unpublished and revealing Top Secret document,
the author gives a badly needed re-appraisal of the last two British Governors
of Burma. Finally General Briggs, the General Officer Commanding, emerges
as the unsung hero whose quiet determination avoided a Vietnam in Burma.
This account of a peaceful transfer of power in difficult and dangerous circumstances
may help a new generation in Burma on their hard road to democracy
and national reconciliation. It is an absorbing and long-overdue tribute to the
men and women who served in the armed forces of the Crown in post-war
Burma.
IS BN 978-974-7534-26-9
WL Order Code 22 171
US$28.00
Bangkok 2000, repr. from 1910; 384 pp., 72
pp. illus., l50 x 2l0 mm, pbk.
Milne, Leslie; Shans at Home :
Burma’s Shan States in the Early 1900s
This reprint offers a colorful account of the Shan States, where the author, Mrs.
Leslie Milne, lived from 1906–1907, six months in Hsipaw and then fifteen
months in the Namkhain valley of the Shweli River.
For most of the time she
was the only foreign resident; being a member of the Royal Asiatic Society and
Bombay Natural History Society no doubt prepared her to live the life of an
explorer to the full.
She studied most aspects of Shan life, particularly family
life, illustrating her observations with a host of remarkable photos. Language,
folklore, villagers at work, crafts, medicine and charms, Shan cosmology, are
all discussed in lively anecdotes, peppered with astute observations.
Blessed
with such a keen interest in all that crosses her path, she happily sprinkles her
account with critical remarks about this simple life, and of the British for their
failure to cash in on their empire building.
Her passion for textiles and her
other preferred pastime—natural history—led her to record natural dyes and
products, and nature in general, noting that both were already losing out, albeit
to German rather than British traders.
The book is enhanced by two chapters
on the history and literature of the Shan States by the Reverend Wilbur Willis
Cochrane.
IS BN 978-974-480-056-5
WL Order Code 22 412
US$22.00
Bangkok 2004, repr. from 1924; 452 pp., 17
pp. illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Milne, Leslie; The Home of an Eastern Clan :
A Study of the Palaungs of
the Shan States
This is a detailed study on all aspects of life and culture of the Palaungs of the
Shan States.
This study, which was researched in the 1910s and published in
1924, deals for the most part with the Katur tribe of the Palaungs.
They live
in or near Namhsan, the capital of Tawngpeng, which was nominally a Shan
State but which was governed by a Palaung chief then, and inhabited almost
entirely by Palaungs.
The Palaungs are a Mon-Khmer speaking group (as are
the Lamet in Laos). Since her first encounters with the Palaungs in 1906–1908
the author learned the language of the main dialect spoken in Namhsan.
This
scarce book is still one of the main studies on the subject and covers chapters
14
on babies, young girls and boys, young men and maidens, marriage, the dwelling
and home life, village life, medicine, customs on child birth and death,
religion and cosmology, and some details on proverbs and folktales—from a
female perspective.
IS BN 978-974-7534-00-9
WL Order Code 22 079
US$36.00
Bangkok 1999; 186 pp., 76 pp. illus., partly
in color, 210 x 290 mm, pbk.
Moilanen, Irene & Sergey Ozhegov; Mirrored in Wood :
Burmese Art and
Architecture
This overview presents the traditional art of wood carving and use of wood in
building in Burma from a historical perspective.
In the early Burmese context
the wood carvers’ art was honed for religious purposes: to create sculptures to
venerate the Buddha.
These and other woodcarving motifs of decorative and
legendary nature evolved but maintained continuity to the present time despite
loss in the 1300–1700 era due to disruptive events in the country.
The numerous
illustrations of this art also show the colonial influences and recent adaptations
to the tourist souvenir market, a potential threat to maintaining traditional
wood-carving skills.
These are described in detail, including materials and
techniques, accompanied with illustrations.
The use of wood in buildings also
has its traditions in form and beliefs and a basis in functional use and mobility:
a basic room is replicated and adapted in the specific contexts of dwelling,
monastery, and palace.
All these designs are illustrated with floor plans and
photographs.
Again, in architecture modern design requirements, materials,
urbanization and utility challenge the preservation of traditional methods and
forms, many of which may well be more suited for local use.
IS BN 978-4-89656-605-5
WL Order Code 7 561
US$70.00
Tokyo 1992, 620 pp., 190 x 265 mm
Nai Pan Hla, Eleven Mon Dhammasāt Texts.
This book contains photographic reproductions of eleven Mon Dhammasāt
(code of law) texts accompanied by their English translation.
Texts include: the
Palm-leaf of the Dhammasāt in the Time of King Sāmanta, the Palm-leaf of
the Gold-line Dhammasāt, the (Dhammavilāsa) Dhammasāt, the Dhammasāt
of the Hermit Manu, the Palm-leaf of the Gold-line Mano Hermit Dhammasāt,
the Dhammasāt’s Dividing and Deciding of Inheritance, the Dhammasāt (of the
Hermit Manu), the Palm-leaf of the Dhammasāt, the Book of the Gold-line, the
Palm-leaf of the Gold-line Dhammasaāt, the Book of the Gold-line Dhammasāt,
and the Dhammasāt in Verse. A useful introduction covering the history of the
Mon people and their relationship to nearby kingdoms (Myanmar, Siamese, and
Khmer) provides the context for the texts and suggests possible relationships
between similar texts found in neighboring countries.
IS BN 978-974-8495-17-0
WL Order Code 21 067
US$36.00
Bangkok 1996, repr. from 1907; 470 pp.,
fully illus., 8 pp. in color, 4 folded maps +
plans, 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
O’Connor, V. C. Scott : Mandalay and Other Cities of the Past in Burma
First published in 1907, this book is still an important source of information
for all who are curious about this fascinating country that has only recently
begun the process of change.
V. C. Scott O’Connor served in Burma at the
turn of the century as a British colonial officer. His extensive travels took him
to numerous cities, all of which had had a great influence on Burmese history,
art and culture.
From his experiences, the author recreates Burmese history
through that of important early cities. Mandalay, for which he had a special
affection, Sagaing, Ava, Amarapura, Pagan, Pegu, Prome, Thare-kettaya (Srikshetra),
Mergui, Tagoung, and the monastery complex at Po-u-daung.
The
work includes 243 illustrations, mostly photos, reproductions of paintings by
the traditionalist Burmese painter, Saya Chone, and maps and diagrams.
IS BN 978-974-8434-26-1
WL Order Code 22 015
US$20.00
Bangkok 1998, repr. from 1911; 150 pp., 8
pp. illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
P. B., E. M.; A Year on the Irrawaddy
This account was written by the wife of an oil-boat captain plying the trade
on the Irrawaddy River in Burma.
It is the unassuming tale of the hard lives
of sailors and shore men alike.
The turn of the century, when this wife took
the unusual step of following her husband on board for most of her time in
Burma, saw many changes in the daily life on the river: not least those caused
by a small boom in trading and in the exploitation of primary resources by
British companies.
The many anecdotes in this account make for a colorful
and insightful picture of the life of those who were living outside the colonial
circles and high officialdom that are usually the subjects of expatriates’
reports of a tour of duty in the colony.
Today’s travelers to Burma may find this
book interesting and useful comparative material and will, no doubt, notice
how little has changed in the lives of the common people with the passing of
regimes and doctrines.
IS BN 978-974-8495-50-7
WL Order Code 21 469
US$42.00
Bangkok 1991, 157 pp., fully illus., 210 x
295 mm
Pichard, Pierre; The Pentagonal Monuments of Pagan
These monuments are exceptional in the ancient architecture of Southeast Asia
and are indeed rare in the whole history of architecture.
This original study by
Pierre Richard, architect and member of the École française d’Extrême Orient,
presents 17 monuments, discussing the doctrinal, historical, and architectural
features of these unique achievements of Burmese genius.
No IS BN
WL Order Code 760
US$18.00
Rangoon 1970s, repr. from 1936; 118 pp.,
155 x 240 mm
Ray, Nihar-Rangan; Sanskrit Buddhism in Burma
The materials used in this monograph are mostly archaeological, but also
include archaeologically substantiated literary sources so as to cover all
relevant inscriptions, sculptures, paintings and monuments known within
Burma. Apart from new materials that were hitherto unknown, many new
interpretations of old materials have been proposed.
This text reveals the
prevalence of the Sarvastivada in Old Prome, the definite existence of
Mahayanist and Tantric texts in the monastic libraries of Upper Burma, and
the unrecognized representations of gods and goddesses belonging to the
Mahayana tradition and its allied pantheons.
The text also establishes that
the Samanakuttakas, are identical with the Aris, both branded heterodox
sects.
It indicates the time and place whence the Mahayana and its allied
cults penetrated Burma, as well as their continued existence long after the
glorious reformation of Anawrahta in 1057–1058 AD.
There are sufficient
indications that the numerous followers of these sects played a significant
role in the religious life of Upper Burma.
The six chapters deal with:
1. Sarvastivada in Ancient Prome.
2. Sanskrit Inscriptions: Sanskrit Buddhist
Texts.
3. Gods and Goddesses of Northern Buddhism.
4. The Ari sect and the
Samankuttakas.
5. Testimony of Buddhist Monks.
6. When and whence
did Sanskrit Buddhism penetrate Burma?
IS BN 978-974-7534-82-5
WL Order Code 22 243
US$18.00
Bangkok 2001, repr. of 1928; 168 pp., 24 pp.
illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
San C. Po, Burma and the Karens
A reprint of the original 1928 publication which “set out to present and explain
to the reading public and those who are in authority, the condition of the Karens,
the position they occupy and their aspiration as a nation ".
The historian
Martin Smith considers the author to be the “father” of the Karen people.
He
is described by Harry Marshall (author of The Karen People of Burma) as perhaps
the most prominent Karen.
The extensive introduction by Christina Fink
provides a full historical background and insight into the far-sightedness of the
author, helping to understand the ongoing struggle of the Karen and possibly
its solution.
IS BN 978-974-8434-98-8
WL Order Code 22 081
US$60.00
Bangkok 2000, 336 pp., 144 pp. illus., partly
in color, 210 x 290 mm, pbk.
Schendel, Willem van, Wolfgang Mey & Aditya Kumar Dewan; The Chittagong
Hill Tracts: Living in a Borderland
This work examines the borderland between Burma, India and Bangladesh,
inhabited by twelve distinct ethnic groups with strong cultural and linguistic
links with Southeast Asia.
The three specialist authors of this unique book have
assembled more than 400 mostly unpublished
photographs, many in color, from
over 50 private collections.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Living in a Borderland
introduces the reader to the remarkable cultural variety and modern transformations
of this virtually unknown region bridging Southeast Asia and South Asia.
At the same time it explores how, from the 1860s to the late twentieth century,
photographers have portrayed the Chittagong
Hill Tracts and their inhabitants.
These photographers were both outsiders (travelers, officials, missionaries,
anthropologists,
development workers) and local people capturing their own
world as they saw it.
The 20 carefully documented chapters include: Creating
a Colonial Aristocracy, The Public Display of Power, Images of Nature and
Destruction, Religions of the Hills, Bodies and Costumes, Developing the Hills,
and Lifestyles.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts is the first comprehensive work on
this complex region of Asia.
IS BN 978-974-7534-96-2
WL Order Code 22 279
US$30.00
Bangkok 2002, 423 pp., 8 pp. illus. in col.,
150 x 220 mm, pbk.
Seekins, Donald M.; The Disorder in Order: the Army-State in Burma since
1962
The book examines Burma’s history of “regime entropy” following the March
1962 coup d’état which ended the country’s brief experiment with parliamentary
government. Implementing socialist economic policies in central Burma
and a hard line against ethnic and communist insurgents in the border areas,
Ne Win’s Army-State presided over the country’s fall from prosperity to Least-
Developed Nation status by 1987.
The following year, a new martial law regime
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) brutally suppressed a
nationwide movement for democracy that drew on the country’s colonial-era
traditions of revolutionary nationalism.
Although SLORC promoted an open
economy, including foreign private investment, the second army-state operates
on the same assumptions as its predecessor: that government is synonymous
with pacification, unquestioned central control and cultural homogenization.
The author argues that while the post-1988 junta, renamed the State Peace and
Development Council in November 1997, claims a unique mission in defending
national unity and social order, its policies generate political disunity and
socioeconomic disorder.
Tragically, genuine order, the key to Burma’s development,
remains out of reach as the 21st century dawns.
IS BN 978-1-870838-30-0
WL Order Code 4 809
US$58.00
Whiting Bay 1989, repr. from 1910; 621 pp.,
140 x 220 mm
Shway Yoe, The Burman: His Life and Notions
This timeless ‘classic’ on Burma remains one of the most intuitive and sympathetic
works on all aspects of Burmese culture, society and daily life—past and
present. Shway Yoe, the Burmese pseudonym of Sir J. G.
Scott, completed this
work in 1882.
He describes a variety of subjects including Buddhism and spirit
worship, literature and the arts, kingship and Burmese conceptions of state,
the legal system, military organization, sports and games, wildlife, indigenous
medicine and tribal life.
IS BN 978-984-05-1114-9
WL Order Code 5 113
US$23.00
Dhaka 1989, 130 pp., 140 x 220 mm
Shwe Lu Maung : Burma Nationalism and Ideology
Shwe a former Burmese guerrilla and a dissenter of the military regime, brings
forth the complexity of Burma’s present political and social dilemmas.
He traces its roots in the historical and cultural diversities of Burmese people, in
the feudal and colonial heritage of the country and in the stormy whirlwind of
the modern political doctrine.
IS BN 978-967-65-3086-8
WL Order Code 8 108
US$17.00
Kuala Lumpur 1995, 122 pp., 30 pp. illus.,
16 pp., in col., 135 x 200 mm
Singer, Noel F : Burmese Dance and Theatre
Although Burma’s dance styles were originally influenced by neighboring cultures
and its theater forms by the staging of Buddhist stories and propitiation
ceremonies of spirit cults, both genres developed distinctive forms in response
to the country’s rich cultural and religious mix and to changing political circumstances.
The book traces the history of dance and theater in Burma in the
courts and in the countryside, and describes the various dances, plays, and
musical accompaniment that evolved as a result of changing tastes and the need
to attract audiences.
Drawing on hitherto unavailable Burmese sources, the
author also presents a vivid picture of the little known and precarious world
of the court entertainers and itinerant troupes and the leading personalities of
the times.
IS BN 978-81-7648-579-1
WL Order Code 8 813
US$42.00
New Delhi 2004, 285 pp. illus., 23 pp. illus.
in col., 1 map, 190 x 250 mm
Singer, Noel R.; The Sorcerer-King and that “Great Abortion” at Mingun
In 1790,
Badon Min, the sorcerer-king of Myanmar (Burma) embarked on a
project to create the Mingun pagoda, which, if completed would have been
higher than the Great Pyramid in Egypt.
This tyrant and his sycophantic court
inhabited an exotic and rigorously feudal world: Mi the City of Immortals,
where glittering ceremonials were a way of life. But beneath this ostensibly
benign exterior lurked a nightmarish realm of sorcery, spells and death by
ceremonial drowning.
Adopted Hindu gods and indigenous spirits dominated
the lives of everyone.
The spin-doctors at court were unsurpassed, and spun
fabulous tales regarding their Master of the Celestial Weapon who “like unto
the kings of the universe who governed the four great islands of the solar system
were versed in charms and spells of fourteen descriptions.” And despite being
the son of a peasant claimed descent from the Emperor Asoka of India no less.
So deluded was he by his cronies in the occult arts, he even declared himself
to be Maitreya the Merciful Buddha.
Yet over a period of thirty-seven years,
he was responsible for the death of thousands.
Despite this some authors still
portray him as an unblemished and oh-so-pious being. The author has delved
into previously unavailable indigenous records and contemporary foreign
accounts to produce a warts and all portrait of Badon Min, his achievements,
murderous indiscretions and failures.
And in the process has uncovered sex
scandals and vital evidence that the impossibly ambitious Mingun project was
never completed.
The text is enriched with many illustrations by the author,
together with other rare unpublished material, which brings to life the colorful
reign of this extraordinarily volatile man and the personalities, who came into
contact with him
IS BN 978-974-480-040-4
WL Order Code 22 352
US$28.00
Bangkok 2003, repr. from 1972; 223 pp., 13
pp. illus., 2 maps, 150 x 21 0 mm, pbk.
Stewart, A.T.Q.; The Pagoda War
This work records the British attack on upper Burma. In November 1885 10,
000 British and Indian troops were transported up the Irrawaddy in steamers
of the Flotilla Company.
After a few skirmishes they occupied Mandalay and
deposed King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat, who were sent into exile in India.
Upper Burma was then annexed to the British Empire.
Why did it bring only
discredit on the soldiers who carried it out? Strangely enough, some of the
answers to these questions are to be found in Ireland.
For the leading figures
in this Burmese drama were almost all Irishmen, from the Viceroy of India,
Lord Dufferin, to the special correspondent of The Times.
Edward Moylan,
who pursued a personal vendetta against the British administration in Burma.
Dr. Stewart has based his fascinating account of the Mandalay campaign on
Lord Dufferin’s vice-regal correspondence and on sources in the India Office
Records and Library.
IS BN 978-0-85052-476-5
WL Order Code 21 816
US$30.00
London, Bangkok 1995, 231 pp., 8 pp. illus.,
1 map, 155 x 235 mm, pbk.
Stibbe, Philip G.; Return via Rangoon: A Young Chindit Survives the
Jungle and Japanese Captivity
The story of the Chindits, and how Wingate was able to forge out of this heterogeneous
collection of men a fighting force which became and has remained one
of the legends of the Second World War.
Stibbe vividly describes the training
of this ill-assorted bunch for the first Chindit expedition and the way in which
Wingate prepared them for the ordeals ahead.
Alas, as with so many of the
best-laid plans, things went awry and Stibbe ended up a prisoner of the Japanese,
incarcerated in a gaol in Rangoon.
How he managed to survive the appalling
sadism of his captors in the following years is even more extraordinary.
His account of his time in prison vividly conveys the lowest depths of man’s
inhumanity to fellow man, and the will of man to survive under the gravest of
circumstances.
IS BN 978-0-520-05750-3
WL Order Code 1 478
US$42.00
Berkeley 1977; 327 pp., 155 x 235 mm, pbk.
Spiro, Melford E.;Kinship and Marriage in Burma
A Cultural and Psychodynamic
Analaysis
In a psychodynamic framework, Dr. Spiro examines cultural norms, religion,
interpersonal relationships, and the roles of women and men in the village of
Yeigyi, Upper Burma.
The book is a remarkable contribution to knowledge concerning mate
selection, marriage, domestic group composition, intrafamilial relationships
and kinship in Burma.
Usable as a college text in sociology/anthropology, the
book is also an excellent reference work for scholars interested in kinship and
marriage.
No IS BN
WL Order Code 5 206
US$23.00
Rangoon, no date, printed in Singapore; 162
pp., with text illus., 145 x 210 mm
U Toke Gale : Burmese Timber Elephant
This book provides an in-depth look at Burmese timber elephants.
The author
himself was a Burmese forester for many years and much of the information
here comes from his first hand experience.
The book covers such details as
the physical body of elephants, sleeping and feeding habits, the phenomenon
of musth, reproduction, period of gestation, life expectancy, capture methods,
training, care, dragging gear, and discussion of the Burmese white elephant.
Necessary for anyone interested in working elephants in Southeast Asia.
IS BN 978-974-7534-35-1
WL Order Code 22 179
US$27.00
London, Bangkok 2000; 428 pp., 17 pp.
illus., 150 x 210 mm, pbk.
Tucker, Shelby : Among Insurgents: Walking Through Burma
This book describes a remarkable and perilous journey into a terra incognita.
Shelby Tucker entered the Shan State of Burma through a border area of China
closed to foreigners, crossed the Hills and left Burma via an area of India closed
to foreigners.
He was detained by communist rebels, handed over to Kachin
rebels and arrested by the Indian army.
But Among Insurgents is more than
an extraordinary adventure story.
It describes the Kachins, the most important
of Burma’s “hidden colonies”, of whom very little has been written, offers a
brief and readable analysis of the Burmese civil war, including its ethnic and
religious dimensions, and examines the symbiotic relationship between the
civil war and the international drugs trade.
Shelby Tucker interviewed poppy
farmers and leaders on both sides of the narcotics divide, and his report to the
US National Security Council may have contributed to Washington’s changed
perception of the Burma Army as the main player in the trade.
This book is a
necessary supplement to Bertil Lintner’s Land of Jade, first published in 1990
IS BN 978-974-8496-44-3
WL Order Code 21 811
US$15.00
Bangkok 1995, 150 pp., 130 x 200 mm,
pbk.
Thaung U, : A Journalist, a General and an Army in Burma
This is the chilling story of a people under military rule. As a Burmese journalist,
the author worked under martial law and was jailed by the cunning and ruthless
General Ne Win, Burma’s dictator.
It is the chronicle of the stupidity and
crimes of the Burmese Army and of, from an insider’s viewpoint, the misery
and cruelties endured by 43 million enslaved Burmese people.
See also Michael Howard, Textiles of the Highland People of Burma Vol. 1 & 2 in textiles
038-239-883-4 
