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 This is the long-awaited book about Vernon Donnison by his son, Britain-Burma member Professor David Donnison. Not only Vernon's immediate family but other members of the clan at very different levels of the colonial establishment, chart Burma's history from a personal as well as state perspective. Written from extensive diaries. |
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Sep 2005 by David Donnison Publisher Newtown: Superscript. 369 pages, map, illustrations, bibliography. £15.00 ISBN: 0954291395 NB: a REVIEW by Patricia Herbert |
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2004 a Farmer's Story by Roger Browning from Roger Browning Great Tey Colchester Essex CO6 1JE. |
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An autobiography by an engineer who organized giant machines to build roads & bridges for soldiers in the Forgotten War. Several chapters on Burma, but the pre-war rural scene in the UK is almost as interesting. NB: a REVIEW by Lewis Shaw, who also served as an engineer officer in the same campaign. |
 The story of the author's epic trudge out of Burma through the Hukawng Valley in 1942. Though the whole family made the trek, he was the only survivor. Later he finds his own 'Maymyo' in New South Wales. |
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Oct 2001 White Butterflies by Colin McPhedran Publisher Pandanus Books, The Australian National University, Canberra Available (paperback) from Amazon, University of Hawaii $17.00 ISBN: 1740760174 NB: a REVIEW by Noel Holmes |
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Burma - The Forgotten War by Jon Latimer 610 pp, 32 illustrations, 125 maps HB £25.00 Published by John Murray ISBN 0 7195 6375 8 NB: a REVIEW by John McEnery |
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 This is not the first book detailing the progress of the war in Burma from 1941 to 1945, but it brings a great many new sources. Jon Latimer's latest account of every significant military operation in the war is unlikely to be surpassed in the future. |
 A gorgeous, richly-illustrated coffee-table book that provides an introduction to a number of textile traditions and also explores textiles in particular contexts. It has articles by all the top people in the field - including a number of Britain-Burma Society experts. |
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2003 Textiles from Burma edited by Elizabeth Dell and Sandra Dudley 192 pages, map, illustrations, glossary, bibliography ISBN: 0 85667 569 5. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, in association with The James Green Centre for World Art, Brighton. £29.95 From the Green Centre NB: a REVIEW by Patricia Herbert |
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2003 Kelly's Burma Campaign - Letters from the Chin Hills by Desmond Kelly 367 pp, 64 illustrations HB £20.00 (plus £4.00 UK postage) Published by Tiddim Press, PO Box 28958, Mortlake, London SW14 8XE ISBN: 0-9540238-1-1 |
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 NB - REVIEW by John McEnery |
 More than half of the 300,000 Japanese soldiers who fought in Burma died there. Here are 64 tales translated from Japanese of scared young men fighting in a far land, trying to do their duty while short of food and ammunition, winnowed by disease as well as bullets. An even more forgotten side of the Forgotten War. |
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Oct 2001 Tales by Japanese Soldiers of the Burma Campaign 1942-45 by Kazuo Tamayama & John Nunnerly 252pp from Cassell Military PB £6.99 ISBN: 0304359785 |
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2001 Theravada Buddhism in Burma by Niharranjan Ray 316pp ISBN 974-8299-87-2 £18.00 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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 A pioneering study, first published in 1946 and still said to be the most comprehensive to date, of the history of Theravada Buddhism in Burma, based on epigraphic, archaeological and literary sources. This influential book, together with the next two, are republished to mark the centenary of this Indian scholar's birth. |
 First published in 1936 and now republished together with the other two works by this Indian scholar. A monograph on the influence of Mahayana, Tantric and other northern Buddhist schools on early Burmese Buddhist traditions. Draws on archaeological and other evidence. |
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2001 Sanskrit Buddhism in Burma by Niharranjan Ray 130pp ISBN 974-8299-81-3 £12.00 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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2001 Brahmanical Gods of Burma by Niharranjan Ray 109 pp, 30 plates ISBN 974-8299-30-9 £12.00 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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 First published in 1932 and republished on the centenary of this great Indian scholar's death. A study of the Hindu elements in ancient Burmese religion, based on the analysis of extant religious sculpture and images on cast coinage. |
 Having taken her cat Claudius round the USA, the young authoress circuits Burma too, for a good laugh and a new cat, it seems. Too frivolous for people who know Burma well - but a young relative might enjoy it. |
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2002 Of Cats and Kings by Clare de Vries 256pp HB £12.99 Published by Bloomsbury ISBN: 0747558094 |
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Autumn 2001 Our Trip to Burmah by Charles Alexander Gordon 278 pp, over 30 photos ISBN 974-524-002-8 $23.00 - £12.99 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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 The diary of the Surgeon-General of the British forces in Madras who spent three weeks in Burma in 1874-75. Observations of Burmese life and customs, plus notes on history, peoples, government, religion, festivals etc. |
 Every Burmese month has a poem, a flower and an introduction to festivals, myths, religious customs, agriculture etc, described with wit and spirit by Khin Myo Chit. |
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2001 Festivals and Flowers of the Twelve Burmese Seasons by Khin Myo Chit with paintings by Paw Oo Thet ISBN 974-8299-56-2 54 colour plates, 132pp 8 inches square HB - £19.00 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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2002 From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe HB: £17.00 HarperCollins ISBN: 0007116810 |
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 Pascal Khoo-Thwe spoke to the Britain-Burma Society on this subject in May 1996. From Padaung village boy to Mandalay waiter to refugee to Cambridge undergraduate - an eventful and fascinating story, not least for its accounts of Padaung life, full of ancient beliefs and customs in addition to the Padaungs' official Roman Catholicism. |
 Not a novel, not political - this really is a book about the mineral, jade, and its history. Describes the authors' quest in Burma for the legendary 'Lost Valley of Capelan' - supposed to be a city built of jade - and what they actually found. |
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Jan 2002: The Stone of Heaven: Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark Little, Brown and Co (US) ISBN: 0316525960 PB $24.95 (£17.52) Obtainable on Amazon for £7.19. |
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Feb 2002: Welcome to Burma and Enjoy the Totalitarian Experience by Timothy Syrota ISBN: 974-524-008-7 PB - £15.00 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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 Another tourist malgré lui who hates the government, loves the people, and tries to get beneath the surface of modern Burma. |
 Martaban, now known as a Gulf and a town near Moulmein, was once a province. Abreu, a forester, was one of the first to visit Martaban and Pegu and give an account of them after their acquisition by the British Empire. Plentiful details of trees, flora and fauna. |
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Feb 2002: Journal of a Tour through Pegu and Martaban Provinces by Robert Abreu (first published 1858) ISBN: 974-5240-00-1 PB - £12.99 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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Oct 2001 Buddhist Stupas in Asia: The Shape of Perfection Publisher: Lonely Planet ISBN: 1864501200 176 pp / 275 maps Hundreds of photos $34.99 - £24.99 |
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 It covers stupas from Afghanistan to Japan, but has quite a bit on Burma and Thailand. Many excellent photographs and ground plans. It looks like a coffee-table book but is more academic than most: historical development, names of the pats, references to Buddhist texts etc. |
 A new, completely revised and updated edition of this classic. Lavishly illustrated, it relates the history and techniques of lacquer making in Burma, and describes a range of lacquerware objects. |
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Burmese Lacquerware by Sylvia Fraser-Lu 222 pages, 361 colour plates, 19 bw plates Nearly 9 inches square (237mm x 225mm) ISBN 974-8304-83-3: HB - £39 ISBN 974-8304-83-5: PB - £29 From Orchid Books (Thailand) or Kodansha (UK) NB - 25% discount from Kodansha for Britain-Burma Society members. |
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Jan 2002 The Trouser People by Andrew Marshall HB: £14.95 Published by Viking ISBN: 0670892378 NB - Britain-Burma Society members special discount price: £13 inc. UK postage from: The Bookshop Partnership, Offer # BSP017, PO Box 35, Leominster, HR6 9YH. |
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The Trouser People is subtitled The Quest For The Victorian Footballer Who Made Burma Play The Empire's Game.Sir George Scott - alias Shway Yoe - must be Burma's best-known 19th Century Brit. He explored, wrote about and ruled hitherto uncharted places and peoples. And he brought football to Burma! The 'trouser people' (baung bi) in the title were the Brits. Andrew Marshall follows in Scott's footsteps. |
| Orchid Press P.O. BOX 19 Yuttitham Post Office Bangkok 10907 Thailand. Tel: +66 (2) 930 0149 Email:wop@inet.co.th |
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Kodansha Europe Ltd, Tavern Qy Community Centre, Rope Street, London SE16 7TX, UK Tel: +44 (0) 20 7740 2770 Email:mg@kodansha.co.uk Britain-Burma Society members: Kodansha offers a 25% discount on Orchid books. |