This book is a political history of the Mon people of lower Burma and Thailand - the people of the Golden Sheldrake. The Mon are renowned for their important civilising role in pre-colonial Southeast Asia and achievements in the fields of art and religion. However, contemporary Mon society has until now received less attention. Charting Mon history from the earliest times to the present, Ashley South describes the origins of Burma's ethnic politics in the pre-colonial era and developments during the British (and Japanese) colonial periods. Following independence in 1948, Burma was plunged...

This text considers the conflict and civil war that has ravaged Burma, and considers the implications that conflict has had for Burma's development and prospects for democratisation.

Myanmar is going through a period of profound - and contested - transition. The country has experienced widespread if sometimes uneven reforms, including the start of a peace process between the government and Myanmar Army, and some two dozen ethnic armed organizations, which had long been fighting for greater autonomy