My Conscience

Since gaining its independence from British colonial rule in 1948, Burma's history has been cursed. The military raped the resource-rich country for fifty years and drove its people to penury. Activists who advocated for democracy were imprisoned, tortured, and exiled. Civil society institutions were ground into oblivion. My Conscience: An Exile's Memoir of Burma is U Kyaw Win's compelling account of the bleeding of his homeland by the military. Born during the waning days of colonial rule, he experienced the brutality of Japanese occupation and the heady early days of independence. He studied abroad and acquired the skills that his country would need, but when the military seized power in 1962, he was made stateless and not allowed to return home for forty years. This memoir tells the story of his lifelong efforts to attract international attention to Burma's destruction and to restore freedom to his homeland. Win's memoir chronicles the struggles that he and those who fought for their country's freedom faced. He recounts the giants in Burma's struggle he met in his pursuit. At this historical moment in 2016, it is uncertain whether the elected civilian majority in parliament will take office and if the military will permit a government of the people's choice to rule.

U Kyaw Win was an early expatriate who publicly criticized Burma's military junta in the 1960s. Publisher of The Burma Bulletin and a founder of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma, he lobbied the U.S. Congress for suspension of financial support for the junta. He was exiled for forty-eight years. He retired as a professor of psychology and a counselor from a California college after thirty years.