Aung San Suu Kyi
Subtitle: a biography
By: Jesper Bengtsson
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Potomac Books
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781612341590
Subjects: Women political activists; Politics and government; Biography; Democracy
Work titles: Kamp för frihet
Description: "The leader of Burma's democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, has joined Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama in the global pantheon of those whose lives are dedicated to freedom. Throughout the world, she is associated with a peaceful struggle for democracy and human rights. But what is she really like? What drives her to make such enormous personal sacrifices for her country? Jesper Bengtsson presents a portrait of one of today's most significant political activists. He chronicles her background as the daughter of Burma's liberation hero Aung San, the years she spent in England and New York, and her return to Burma in the 1980s. First placed under house arrest by the military junta in 1989, she spent fifteen of the subsequent twenty-one years in captivity, separated from her husband and two children. Throughout that period, she remained a unifying figure and activist for Burma's democracy movement. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, she saw her reputation and her international stature grow the longer she was under house arrest. Upon her release in November 2010, she immediately took up her work with the democracy movement and proved that she remains the most important political force in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi's ability to affect people and repressive regimes reflects not only her personal charisma and courage but also her devotion to one of the great issues of our times: What is necessary for democracy to evolve from a deeply authoritarian system?"--Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: "I have always felt free"; title: The swimmer; title: The homecoming; title: The heritage; title: The shots at the secretariat; title: The election campaign; title: Childhood; title: Suu from Burma; title: Family life in a knapsack; title: House arrest; title: The world wakes up; title: "My Suu"; title: The murder attempt; title: The Saffron Revolution; title: All these anniversaries.