Review
'A work of great political commitment, powered above all by the authors outrage at the injustices, brutalisation and mass violation of human rights that he witnessed in Burma. Yet for all its pain, 'Under the Dragon' is a beautiful book. It remains his masterpiece; and in the light of the continuing tragedy in Burma is now more relevant than ever.' --William Dalrymple
'Exceptional insight and sensitivity, beautifully crafted and poignant... Maclean is a maverick among travel writers, his talent is multifaceted... Until the Burmese are free to determine their own lives then the pages of this wonderful book are as close as I will be getting to Burma.' --Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times
'Shines with an almost unbearable poignancy...a beautiful insight into this unhappy land…a book which marvellously extends the conventional confines of travel writing.' --Colin Thubron, The Times
Product Description
What does the fortunate visitor feel, travelling among the betrayed? The memory of a brief visit to Burma had haunted Rory MacLean for years. A decade after the violent suppression of an unarmed national uprising, which cost thousands of lives and all hopes for democracy, he seized the chance to return. Travelling from Rangoon to Mandalay and Pagan, into the heart of the Golden Triangle, he hears stories of freedom fighters, government censors, basket weavers, farmers and lovers - ordinary people struggling to survive under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in the world. He also meets Aung San Suu Kyi, perhaps the most courageous woman of our time and the embodiment of all Burma s hope. On his journey MacLean exposes the tragedy of a hundred betrayals, giving voice to those too frightened to speak for themselves. In so doing he illuminates a land of paradoxes woven together like a basket: love and hate, faith and hopelessness, freedom and slavery, kindness and cruelty, selflessness and greed. 'Under the Dragon' is a perceptive and heartbreaking portrayal of contemporary Burma, a country that is shot through with desperation and fear, but also blessed - even in the darkest places - with beauty and courage.
From the Back Cover
Ten years ago, the people of Burma rose up against their military government. The unarmed demonstrators were cut down, leaving more than five thousand dead. In ' Under the dragon', Rory MacLean, author of the acclaimed 'Stalin’s Nose' and 'The Oatmeal Ark', travels from a decaying Rangoon to the heart of the golden triangle, meeting the victims and perpetrators of the uprising. He rides with a hill-tribe warlord, shares tea with a government censor and is trapped into a karaoke evening with Chinese businessmen. He learns about the economics of the heroin trade and the tragedy of child prostitution. He meets the most courageous and contentious woman of our age, Aung San Suu Kyi, imprisoned leader of the democratic opposition party. And he unravels a paradox of selfless generosity and sinister greed in a land stitched together by love and fear.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Rory MacLean's books, including best-sellers 'Stalin's Nose' and 'Under the Dragon', have challenged and invigorated travel writing, and -according to the late John Fowles -are among works that 'marvellously explain why literature still lives'. He has won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work prize and an Arts Council Writers' Award, was twice shortlisted for the Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Prize and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and 4. Born and educated in Canada, he lives with his family in Dorset.
