Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's "woman of destiny" and one of the most admired voices for freedom in the world today, comes alive through this brilliant rendering of Burma's tumultuous history.
Award-winning journalist and former State Department speechwriter Rena Pederson brings to light fresh details about the charismatic Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi: the inspiration for Burma's (now Myanmar) first steps towards democracy. Suu Kyi's party will be a major contender in the 2015 elections, a revolutionary breakthrough after years of military dictatorship. Using exclusive interviews with Suu Kyi since her release from fifteen years of house arrest, as well as recently disclosed diplomatic cables, Pederson uncovers new facets to Suu Kyi's extraordinary story.
The Burma Spring also reveals the extraordinary steps taken by First Lady Laura Bush to help Suu Kyi, as well as how former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton injected new momentum into Burma's democratic rebirth. Pederson provides a never-before-seen view of the harrowing hardships the people of Burma have endured and the fiery political atmosphere in which Suu Kyi has fought a life-and-death struggle for liberty in this fascinating part of the world.
Shelby Hearon, New York Times bestselling author of Owning Jolene
"The long, hard road to 'national reconciliation' wrought by Burmese national heroine Aung San Suu Kyi. Dallas journalist Pederson evokes the quiet, stubborn dignity of this rather improbable political icon of Myanmar, a multiethnic country of mostly Buddhists…Pederson visited her subject several times, and she draws a deeply nuanced portrait of the enigmatic, inspiring leader."
