Burmese Shadows: Twenty-five Years Reporting on Life Behind the Bamboo Curtain

Covering 25 years, Burmese Shadows is an unprecedented body of work which highlights, with stunning photographs, the reality of living and fighting for survival for ordinary people in Myanmar. These harsh realities, however, are juxtaposed against the vibrant and rich traditions and cultures which combine to make the enigmatic country that is Myanmar.

Few other illustrated titles can provide such a deep and broad picture of Burmese life and politics. Highlights include his photographs of Aung Sang Su Kyi, the ethnic armies and tribal warlords, interviews with the legendary opium baron Khun Sa and his unparalleled access to the Free Burma Rangers, a force of humanitarian commandos living in the Black Zones, where the Burmese army operate a shoot-on-sight policy. The author has spent one month with the Rangers every year since 1999. No other journalist has had such access.

Thierry Falise is a Bangkok-based Belgian journalist, award-winning photographer, author and recognised expert on Burma, who has been reporting from within Burma each and every year since 1987. He has reported on a range of Southeast Asian issues with AP, Time, Newsweek, New York Times, The Sunday Times, South China Morning Post, Der Spiegel and Die Welt since 1986. He is represented by established agencies GAMMA and ONASIA.