Thant Myint-U

In December 1971, after having stepped down as the United Nations' longest-serving Secretary-General, U Thant was ranked the sixth 'most admired man' in America. So why is he largely forgotten today? In Peacemaker, Thant Myint-U traces his grandfather's rise from schoolteacher in a small Burmese backwater in 1947 to celebrity at the centre of global politics just two decades later....

'A sobering account, told elegantly and eruditely.' - Financial Times 'Thant Myint-U is the greatest living historian of Burma.' - William Dalrymple Precariously positioned between China and India, Burma's population has suffered dictatorship, natural disaster and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged...

"A wonderful subject, beautifully written, evoking a world startlingly like and unlike our own" — Rory Stewart "A brilliant portrait not just of a great and unjustly forgotten man, but of an entire age" — William Dalrymple "Important reading at any time in history; essential in the world of today" — Peter Frankopan In December 1971, after having stepped down...