| ASIA & THE PACIFIC |
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BURMA'S LOST KINGDOMS: Splendors of Arakan, Pamela
Gutman, Photographs by Zaw Min Yu
Off the Bay of Bengal, in the northwest corner of
Burma, lie the splendid capital cities of ancient Arakan.
Largely unknown to the Western world for much of its
turbulent history, Arakan played a pivotal role in the
exchange of cultures and religion between India and
Southeast Asia. It was from earliest times a cosmopolitan
state with a vigorous and mixed culture; Indian Brahmins
conducted the royal ceremonials, Buddhist monks spread
their teachings, traders came and went, and artists
and architects used Indian models for inspiration. Through
Buddhism, Arakan came into contact with other remote
countries. To the east were the many early empires of
Southeast Asia, Burman, Siamese and Khmer, while later
came influences from the Islamic courts of Bengal and
Delhi.
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| When the state was at its most powerful
its culture was innovative and original, at other times
it reflected that of its stronger neighbors. This is
a comprehensive study of the history, art and culture
of Arakanas well as an introduction to the hitherto almost
unknown bronze and stone art of Arakan. It shows how
a country can combine various religious traditions, such
as Hinduism and Buddhism, to create a rich and layered
artistic sense. Full color photographs, lithograph reproductions,
maps, time charts, a glossary and an index of plates
make this a fine volume to own. |
$40.00 (hardcover)
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BEYOND THE LAST VILLAGE: A Journey of Discovery
in Asia's Forbidden Wilderness, Alan Rabvinowitz
The "Indiana Jones of wildlife science" (the New York
Times) takes readers on a journey of exploration, danger,
and discovery in Asia's forbidden wilderness at the
southeast edge of the Himalayas.
Working under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation
Society, Rabinowitz's goal in visiting this area of
Myanmar was to establish a wildlife research and conservation
program and to survey the country's wildlife. He succeeded
beyond all expectations, not only discovering a species
of primitive deer completely new to science but also
playing a vital role in the creation of Hkakabo Razi
National Park, now one of Southeast Asia's largest protected
areas.
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| As we travel with Rabinowitz
through this "lost world," a mysterious and forbidding
region isolated by ancient geologic forces, we meet the
Rawang, a former slave group; the Taron, a solitary enclave
of the world's only pygmies of Asian ancestry; and Myanmar
Tibetans living in the furthest reaches of the mountains.
We enter the territories of strange, majestic-looking
beasts that few people have ever heard of and fewer have
ever seen -- golden takin, red goral, blue sheep, black
barking deer. The survival of these ancient species is
now threatened, not by natural forces but by hunters
with snares and crossbows, trading body parts for basic
household necessities. The powerful landscape and unique
people the author meets and befriends is interwoven in
this book with his more personal journey of discovery. |
$25.00 (hardcover)
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THE
TROUSER PEOPLE: A Story of Burma in the Shadow of the
Empire, Andrew Marshall
Short-listed for the 2003 Thomas Cook Travel Book
Award is an unforgettable adventure story of two journeys,
one hundred years apart, into the untravelled heart
of Burma.
Part travelogue, part history, part reportage, The
Trouser People is an enormously appealing and vivid
account of Sir George Scott, the unsung Victorian adventurer
who hacked, bullied, and charmed his way through uncharted
jungle to help establish British colonial rule in Burma.
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Born in Scotland in 1851, Scott was a die-hard imperialist
with a fondness for gargantuan pith helmets and a bluffness
of expression that bordered on the Pythonesque. But,
as Marshall discovered, he was also a writer and photographer
of rare sensibility. He spent a lifetime documenting
the tribes who lived in Burma's vast wilderness and
is the author of The Burman, published in 1882
and still in print today. He also not only mapped the
lawless frontiers of this "geographical nowhere"-the
British Empire's easternmost land border with China-but
he widened the imperial goalposts in another way: he
introduced soccer to Burma, where today it is a national
obsession.
Inspired by Scott's unpublished diaries, Marshall
retraced the explorer's intrepid footsteps from the
moldering colonial splendor of Rangoon to the fabled
royal capital of Mandalay. In the process he discovered
modern Burma, a hermit nation misruled by a brutal military
dictatorship, its soldiers, like the British colonialists
before them, nicknamed "the trouser people" by
the country's sarong-wearing civilians.
Tthis is an offbeat and thrilling journey through
Britain's lost heritage-and a powerful exposé of
Burma's modern tragedy.
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$26.00
(hardcover)
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FROM
THE LAND OF GREEN GHOSTS: A Burmese Odyssey |
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