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The Karen - one of the many insurgent groups in Burma (Myanmar) - have been waging an increasingly desperate fight for freedom for the past half century. Jonathan Falla, a British nurse, spent an illegal year helping to train village health workers, while writing this remarkable portrait of an ancient culture remade for the purposes of ethnic rebellion. There are chapters on food, music, love and marriage, the Karen military hierarchy and its weaponry, on mercenaries and missionaries, on young women and on revolutionary symbols.
The picture is enriched with historical comparisons, and is based on portraits of individual Karen as they struggle to defend their way of life and their independence. First published by Cambridge University Press in 1991, this classic work contains photographs by the author."The best book about the Karens to appear in many years. Falla has done the Karens a tremendous service by providing them with the first unbiased account of their own history and culture." Bertil Lintner, Far Eastern Economic Review.
"This splendid volume is the best thing available for trying to understand the complex, confusing and apparently unending conflict between the Karen and the government in Rangoon. It is also an excellent read. Once started, few will be able to put it down until the end." Robert H Taylor, Pacific Review "He is sad for them, at times sad with them. But he honours their grasping for a life that seems more and more utopian, even admirable, as it slowly disappears." Jon Swain, New York Times.
"A truly marvelous book; by any measure it is an extraordinarily good read." Anthony R Walker, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. Published by STUPOR MUNDI, Fife, Scotland, UK.
