Description
Book SynopsisIn late 1930, on a secluded mountain overlooking the rural paddy fields of British Burma, a peasant leader named Saya San crowned himself King and inaugurated a series of uprisings that would later erupt into one of the largest anti-colonial rebellions in Southeast Asian history.
Trade Review“
Return of the Galon King is a brilliant example of listening to one's sources, rather than talking past them. By trying to understand what the Rebellion Tribunal was actually about, not what we want it to be about, Aung-Thwin has created an indispensable work out of an indispensable historical episode.” * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *
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The Return of the Galon King is a valuable addition not just to the study of Burma, but also the study of Southeast Asian history as a whole.” * Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient *
“Maitrii Aung-Thwin’s latest study of the Saya San Rebellion is a powerful critique of the existing historiography on the subject…. It represents an important contribution to the study of colonial Burma, particularly by introducing elements of post-colonial theory that have hitherto been absent from the field.” * South East Asia Research *
“In a meticulous re-examination of the evidence, (Aung-Thwin) argues convincingly that the narrative of the rebellion was constructed by the colonial authorities from already existing colonial interpretations and reports of Burmese attitudes and peasant behavior. Thoroughly sifting the colonial record and the record of Saya San’s trial, the author shows how a picture of peasant attitudes and behaviour assembled in the half-century
before the rebellion was used to define the events of 1930–1932…. For almost seventy years scholars have taken the colonial rendering of the rebellion as the starting point for analysis.” * Asian Review of Books *
“An important contribution to Myanmar studies, historiography, and social science methodology.”
