Burma in the 1950s was one of the wealthiest countries in Southeast Asia, holding great promise for the future. Newly independent from Britian, and blessed with an outstanding educational system, hardworking peoples, and a resource-rich countryside, many expected the country to be the economic powerhouse of Southeast Asia. Tragically, the exact opposite has happened. Forty-one years of military rule has decimated much of the country--but not the people's courage.