General Ne Win: A Political Biography

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"Robert Taylor, one of the most prominent scholars in Myanmar studies, has written an illuminating study of Ne Win, the most enigmatic and controversial of the first generation of post-independence Southeast Asian leaders, and how he steered a then largely unknown country, Burma (now Myanmar), through the Cold War years. This book, by perhaps the only foreign political analyst to live in Burma under Ne Win, is asignificant contribution to the historiography of Myanmar and its unnoticed role in the Cold War in Asia."— Associate Professor Ang Cheng GuanHead of Graduate Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International StudiesNanyang Technological University, Singapore."This book fills a major gap in the literature on Myanmar by providing the first scholarly account of the life of General Ne Win, its enigmatic ruler for over 25 years. It will be of interest not only to professional Myanmar watchers, who have long awaited a detailed and comprehensive study of this important historical figure, but to anyone who wants to learn more about this troubled Southeast Asian country, where Ne Wins legacy is still being felt today."— Andrew Selth, Adjunct Associate ProfessorGriffith Asia Institute.""The Colonel Ne Win of World War II and General Ne Win of post-independent Myanmar was not the same as Chairman Ne Win of the BSPP. Nor was the context of those days similar to the context by which he is normally judged today. The present work (and Taylors scholarship in general) is acutely aware of such anachronistic projections backward, made to commensurate with certain desired academic and political consequences. Taylor examines Ne Wins life and career in the context of when it occurred. This book returns Ne Win to the period to which he belonged."— Michael Aung-Thwin, Professor of South East Asian HistoryUniversity of Hawaii."It is difficult to imagine that this study of Ne Win, the dominant figure in the politics of Burma through most ofthe second half of the twentieth century, will ever be surpassed. Immensely detailed, insightful, and impressively understanding, this is an outstanding work of scholarship."— Ian Brown, Emeritus Professor of the Economic History of South East AsiaSchool of Oriental and African Studies (London)