The abrupt shift in Burmese politics over the past few months has been extraordinary, but it remains uncertain whether this is a false dawn or a long-awaited prelude to substantive political reform. Neither author anticipated this opening and both express pessimism about the potential for democratic freedoms under the current government.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the subject of these two superb books, will run for election to Parliament next month and says she believes recent gestures by the government are for real. Given that her National League for Democracy (NLD) is contesting only 23 of the 48 by-elections in the 440-seat Parliament, it's leverage will be limited even if elections are free and fair.
The current government is dominated by former military officers (26 of 30 Cabinet ministers) and holds power only because of widespread election fraud in 2010, so there are good reasons to remain wary. The military they retired from is responsible for the slaughtering and jailing of monks and students in the 1988 uprising and again during the Saffron Revolution in 2007. The current Constitution, one imposed following a rigged referendum in 2008, allocates 25 percent of seats to the military and gives it de facto veto powers.