Book description
Peter Popham's major new biography of Aung San Suu Kyi draws upon
previously untapped testimony and fresh revelations to tell the story
of a woman whose bravery and determination have captivated people
around the globe. Celebrated today as one of the world's greatest
exponents of non-violent political defiance since Mahatma Gandhi, she
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize only four years after her first
experience of politics.
In April 1988, Suu Kyi returned from Britain to Burma to nurse her
sick mother but, within six months, found herself the unchallenged
leader of the largest popular revolt in the history of Burma. When the
party she co-founded won a landslide victory in Burma's first free
elections for thirty years, she was already under house arrest and
barred from taking office by the military junta.
Since then, 'The Lady' has set about transforming her country
ethically as well as politically, displaying dazzling courage in the
process. Under house arrest for 15 of the previous 20 years, she has
come close to being killed by her political enemies and her commitment
to peaceful revolution has come at extreme personal cost.
In November 2010, after fraudulent elections in which she played no
part, Suu Kyi was again freed. She was greeted by ecstatic crowds but
only time will tell what role this remarkable woman will have in the
future of her country.
Peter Popham has toured Burma as an undercover journalist several
times since his first visit to the country in 1991. A foreign
correspondent and commentator with the Independent newspaper,
he covered South Asia (including Burma) for a period in the late 90s.
Popham interviewed Suu Kyi when she was released from house arrest in
2002, and met her again in 2011. Married with two children, he
lives in Milan.
