{"title":"Books by Bertil Lintner","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781911723684","title":"The Golden Land Ablaze","description":"\u003cp\u003eMyanmar’s generals didn’t expect the nation to rise up against the coup they staged in February 2021. But after decades of stifling, direct military rule, the Burmese people had become used to another way of life during the relative openness of 2011–21. The army has been unable to suppress anti-coup protests as it did in 1962 and 1988; and, three years after sending tanks into Yangon, Naypyitaw and other cities, the army has yet to establish a functioning administration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the first time since the 1970s, armed resistance is not confined to traditionally strife-torn frontier areas, where ethnic insurgents like the Karen National Union and Kachin Independence Army have been active for decades—it has spread to the majority-Burmese heartland, in the shape of the People’s Defence Forces. But the anti-junta forces are insufficiently well-equipped to defeat the much more heavily armed Myanmar army, which itself is stretched too thin, on several fronts, to crush the resistance. And, despite foreign observers’ assurances, there is no unity, common command or synchronised strategy among the various ethnic- minority and ethnic-Burmese resistance groups.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a war that neither side can win. Caught in the middle, and bound to suffer most, are civilians.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308596670837,"sku":"9781911723684","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781911723684_45dc021c-426b-455f-b84f-925b4d3962c8.jpg?v=1786030484"},{"product_id":"9789362135599","title":"The End of the Chinese Century?","description":"The Belt and Road Initiative, when first unveiled by Xi Jinping in 2013, was envisioned as even bigger and grander than America's Marshall Plan. Famously referred to as the 'New Silk Route', it proposed an overland 'Silk Road Economic Belt' connecting China with Europe through Central Asia and the 'Maritime Silk Road' that the Chinese claim existed in ancient times across the Indian Ocean. The BRI would not only restore China's glory as a global trading nation, but also establish its status as the world leader, overtaking the United States.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311256547701,"sku":"9789362135599","price":17.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9789362135599_0112a2e1-b6cc-4c4a-b94e-eb28850a2f6d.jpg?v=1786031803"},{"product_id":"military-might-in-myanmar","title":"Military Might in Myanmar","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA compelling history, augmented by on-the- ground reporting, of the armed forces of Myanmar, explaining their enduring hold on power. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe longevity of military rule in Myanmar is one of the great enigmas of Asian politics. From 1962 through to the mid-1970s, there were over sixty military takeovers worldwide, the majority involving the overthrow of democratically elected governments. Only one of those military regimes remains in power today: in Myanmar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince ousting the elected government in 1962, the Burmese armed forces have encountered several challenges to their solid grip on power, from periodic popular uprisings and ethnic minorities fighting for self-determination to armed resistance movements on the left and right—but this has only entrenched their position. During a decade of relative political openness, from 2011 to 2021, limited space for civilian politicians was created, but direct military rule was reintroduced after a coup in 2021. What is remarkable is that the origins of the current armed forces date back to a meeting of a few young, idealistic nationalists in 1939, who then decided to take up arms against British colonial rule.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBertil Lintner explores how and why the military developed into a state within a state—and became a repressive institution representing only its narrow self-interests.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57507747135861,"sku":"9781805266884","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781805266884.jpg?v=1787042887"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-bertil-lintner.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}