Among Insurgents

This work describes a remarkable and perilous journey. The author entered Burma through the Shan State and later crossed the Kachin State. Drawing on interviews with opium poppy growers, he examines the symbiotic relationship between the Burmese civil war and the drugs trade.

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Among Insurgents describes a remarkable and perilous journey. The author entered Burma through a border area of China closed to foreigners, crossed the Shan and Kachin States, and left Burma via an area of India closed to foreigners. En route, he was detained by Communist insurgents, handed over to Kachin insurgents and arrested by the Indian Army.

But Among Insurgents is not only the story of a journey into a terra incognita; it examines the symbiotic relationship between the civil war in Burma and the international drugs trade. The author interviewed growers of opium poppies and leaders on both sides of the narcotics divide, while his report to the US National Security Council may have contributed to Washington’s changed perception of the Burmese Army as the main player in the trade. As well as offering a brief and readable analysis of the Burmese civil war, including the drugs trade and ethnic and religious dimensions, the book also describes the Kachins, the most important of Burma’s ‘hidden colonies’, of whom almost nothing has been written.

'Every few years there comes along a book by an unknown author that makes you want to stand up and applaud. This is such a book… This is a story of real, risk-taking, old-fashioned travel, not pre-paid by a publishers or faked by a television company. Beautifully written and illustrated with colour photos and maps, it deserves to become a classic.' - Maggie GeeDaily Telegraph - May 2000

This is a fascinating insight into Burma, and essential reading for anyone interested in the rich past and uncertain future of this astonishingly beautiful and tormented place. - Denise HeywoodTraveller - August 2000