The Burma Spring, Rena Pederson
The Burma Spring, Rena Pederson
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The Burma Spring
Aung San Suu Kyi and the New Struggle for the Soul of a Nation

Author: Rena Pederson, Laura Bush

Narrator: Karen White

Unabridged: 24 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/15/2015

Synopsis

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's "woman of destiny" and one of the most admired voices for freedom in the world today, comes alive through this brilliant rendering of Burma's tumultuous history.Award-winning journalist and former State Department speechwriter Rena Pederson brings to light fresh details about the charismatic Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi: the inspiration for Burma's (now Myanmar) first steps towards democracy. Suu Kyi's party will be a major contender in the 2015 elections, a revolutionary breakthrough after years of military dictatorship. Using exclusive interviews with Suu Kyi since her release from fifteen years of house arrest, as well as recently disclosed diplomatic cables, Pederson uncovers new facets to Suu Kyi's extraordinary story.The Burma Spring also reveals the extraordinary steps taken by First Lady Laura Bush to help Suu Kyi, as well as how former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton injected new momentum into Burma's democratic rebirth. Pederson provides a never-before-seen view of the harrowing hardships the people of Burma have endured and the fiery political atmosphere in which Suu Kyi has fought a life-and-death struggle for liberty in this fascinating part of the world.

About Rena Pederson

Rena Pederson teaches writing at Southern Methodist University. She has written on Burma for the Huffington Post, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor. She was the editorial page editor at the Dallas Morning News, has served on the Pulitzer Prize Board, and is the author of The Burma Spring, The Lost Apostle, and What’s Next?, which was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is currently a commentator on Dallas Public Radio.

About Laura Bush

 Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009, is known for her support of literacy and education. She founded both the National Book Festival and the Texas Book Festival among numerous other volunteer and philanthropic projects. She is author of her memoir, Spoken from the Heart, as well as a coauthor of the children’s book, Read All About It!, with her daughter Jenna Bush Hager.

About Karen White

Karen White has been narrating audiobooks of all genres since 1999. Honored to be included in AudioFile’s Best Voices, she’s also a four-time Audie Finalist and has earned multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and Library Journal starred reviews.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Moni

Mixed feelings about this book but a great source of information. The author was a bit all over the place. The way the book is structured is not the best approach, that might have been the problem. But what do I know, I’m not an author :) Honestly, listening to some of the stories in the book, I got......more

Goodreads review by Tom

This book taught me a lot about Burma. The writing was odd. It was almost like a fix-up book in which several essays were thrown together with connecting material. It just wasn't very cohesive with lots of repetition and disjointed timelines. If you want to learn about Burma, I recommend, but be pat......more

Goodreads review by Mary

important book .... read durning the long anticipated elections this past week - i do think it needed an editor as it could have been shortened somewhat - and there were many typos which makes me think it was rushed to the presses - and found that somewhat disconcerting..........more

Quotes

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the towering figures of our age: a tireless champion of democracy, freedom, and reconciliation. Rena Pederson captures Suu Kyi as few others have, producing a vivid account of the life of this remarkable woman. The Burma Spring is a valuable resource for anyone interested in contemporary Burma.” Mitch McConnell

“Tart and witty. Pederson’s book shines.” Shelby Hearon, New York Times bestselling author

“An ambitious and necessary work. An illuminating dossier about a heroic woman and a nation walking, slowly, toward a freer land.” Cleveland Plain Dealer

“The riveting story of Suu Kyi’s brutal imprisonment, deplorable maltreatment, astonishing inner strength, and ultimate survival is told with a historian’s appreciation for context and circumstance…in a complex and sweeping history of Burma’s centuries-old struggle to maintain a closed society, yet manifest its power on a global scale.” Booklist (starred review)

“Journalist Pederson delivers a penetrating portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the Burmese National League for Democracy party, in a thoughtful biography that reveals the ‘moody, temperamental’ side of its charismatic and visionary subject…Pederson charts Myanmar’s ‘winter thaw,’ which earned Suu Kyi a seat in Parliament, and while Suu Kyi’s fearlessness and Buddhist faith have carried her far, observers continue to wonder what impact her work will have on a country that has stymied US presidents since Reagan.” Publishers Weekly

“Engagingly written and intelligently documented.” Library Journal

“The long, hard road to ‘national reconciliation’ wrought by Burmese national heroine Aung San Suu Kyi. Dallas journalist Pederson evokes the quiet, stubborn dignity of this rather improbable political icon of Myanmar, a multiethnic country of mostly Buddhists…Pederson visited her subject several times, and she draws a deeply nuanced portrait of the enigmatic, inspiring leader.” Kirkus Reviews

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