Myanmar Menu

Books & films for research

So as to set the scene, we recommend watching a film or two before you travel to Myanmar. We also recommend taking a book or two to read whilst you travel, to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the country. Below you will find a list of books, films and TV programmes which we have found both informative and entertaining and we hope you will too.

Back to all travel tips

Books about Myanmar

  • The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
  • The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
  • Burmese Days by George Orwell
  • A Hanging by George Orwell
  • The Flame Tree by Keith Dahlberg
  • Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
  • Dancing in Myanmar, at Large in Burma by Amitav Ghosh
  • Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess by Inge Sargent
  • A World Overturned: A Burmese Childhood 1933-1947 Memories by Maureen Baird-Murray
  • Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi
  • Freedom from Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi
  • From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe
  • River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint U
  • Down the Rat Hole: Adventures Underground on Burma’s Frontiers by Edith T. Mirante
  • Perfect Hostage: A Life of Ang San Suu Kyi by Justin Wintle
  • Pagan by Paul Strachan
  • Mandalay by Paul Strachan
  • The Shan Conundrum in Burma by Henri by Andre Aye
  • The Burman: His Life and Notions by Shway Yoe (aka James George Scott)
  • Making of Modern Burma by Thant Myint U
  • Pagan: The Origins of Modern Burma by Michael Aung-Thwin
  • Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia by Thant Myint U
  • The Heart Must Break: Burma – Democracy and Truth by James Mawdsley
  • River Kwai Railway: The Story of the Burma-Siam Railroad by Clifford Kinvig
  • Culture Shock! Myanmar: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette by Saw Myat Yin
  • The Trouser People by Andrew Marshall
  • Under the Dragon by Rory Maclean
  • Golden Earth: Travels in Burma by Norman Lewis
  • Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
  • The Native Tourist: A Holiday Pilgrimage in Myanmar by Ma Thanegi
  • Defiled on the Ayeyarwaddy: One Woman’s Mid-Life Travel Adventures on Myanmar’s Great River by Ma Thanegi
  • Beyond the Last Village: A Journey of Discovery In Asia’s Forbidden Wildernes by Alan Rabinowitz

Films about Myanmar

  • The Purple Plain (Film 1954)
  • The Burmese Harp (Film 1956)
  • Beyond Rangoon (Film 1995)
  • Inside Burma: Land of Fear (Documentary 1996)
  • Kyan Sit Min (Local film, subtitled in English 2005)
  • Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (Film 2008)
  • The Lady (Film 2011)
  • They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain (Documentary 2012)
  • Kayan Beauties (Local film, subtitled in English 2012)

TV programmes about Myanmar

  • Wild Burma: Nature’s Lost Kingdom (BBC, 2013)
  • Top Gear Burma Special (BBC, 2014)