In this new, thoroughly updated, edition of an acclaimed account of contemporary Burma, Christina Fink gives a moving and insightful picture of life under the repressive military dictatorship and the current possibilities for change. In addition to analysing the strategies and techniques the army has deployed to maintain power, Fink gives powerful insights into the life of ordinary Burmese people. Through extensive interviews conducted inside and outside the country she builds a richly textured picture of the type of accommodations people make in order to cope with daily life - as well as some innovative forms of resistance. At a time when international engagement with Burma has grown, with increasing numbers of Burmese living and working abroad, can the regime sustain itself in the face of the economic deterioration at home? The brutal repression of the monk's demonstrations in 2007 were a desparate response to a political opposition better informed and more united than ever before. This is a book anyone with an interest in Burma needs to read.