Myanmar: Serenity & Transition in Burma

Myanmar, once known as Burma, is the largest country on the mainland of Southeast Asia and also one of the least known. It has a long tradition of cooperation and confrontation with its neighbors and for centuries has been wracked by strife. The struggles continued after independence from Great Britain in 1948 when a number of minority ethnic groups sought their own independence. In 1962 the army seized control of the government and embarked on a long and disastrous experiment with socialism under the leadership of the recently deceased General Ne Win. This experiment ended in 1988.

Myanmar occupies a strategic location at the crossroads of the great cultures of India in the West and China to the North. Both these countries have influenced its cultural development. Theravada Buddhism arrived as early as the first century of the Christian era. And the centuries old migration of people from China and Tibet into Myanmar has added to the rich culture of this mysterious country. One who knows Myanmar well is Barry Broman. During his frequent visits to the country he has documented a people, their culture and land with his sensitive photographer’s eye. Within these pages is a visual record of the old Burma and the new Myanmar, parallel worlds in an antique land. This guide contains hundreds of color photographs.