The best single introductions to the complexities of contemporary Burma are Christina Fink, Living Silence in Burma, and Michael W Charney, A History of Modern Burma. Charney's general history, published in 2009, is a little uneven, but it does bring the Burma story up to date, and it collects a great deal of information and analysis in one place. Other important but quite challenging histories by Thant Myint-U are The Making of Modern Burma, published in 2001, and The River of Lost Footsteps, published in 2006. Thant Myint-U is the grandson of former UN Secretary-General U Thant.

Many other analyses provide excellent insights. Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear (a collection of essays) is iconic. Pascal Khoo Thwe, From the Land of Green Ghosts is a superb memoir covering the period both before and after the 8-8-88 uprising. Emma Larkin, Secret Histories: Finding George Orwell in a Burmese Teashop and Andrew Marshall, The Trouser People pick up on famous colonial officials and provide neat explorations of the situation today. Also worth reading on the contemporary period stretching back to 1988 are Bertil Lintner, Outrage (on the events of 1988), and Justin Wintle, Perfect Hostage (a biography of Aung San Suu Kyi).

Looking again to the past, an excellent historical novel set in the nineteenth century is Daniel Mason, The Piano Tuner. A good novel about the early colonial period is Amitav Ghosh, The Glass Palace. Also interesting on colonial times are a novel and an essay by George Orwell, Burmese Days and “Shooting an Elephant”. On Burma in World War Two there are many memoirs and some massive histories, notably Louis Allen, Burma: The Longest War. Evocative accounts of an awful conflict are George MacDonald Fraser, Quartered Safe Out Here and Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley, Tales by Japanese Soldiers. Also interesting about Japan and World War Two is Michio Takeyama, Harp of Burma. On the early years of independence, when Burma was a functioning but fragile democracy, Norman Lewis, Golden Earth is an outstanding travelogue – though the language is quite difficult for non-native English speakers.