Burma in 1925
/Paul Edmonds visited Burma and wrote a book published in 1925 Peacocks and Pagodas that is available from Internet Archive. I enjoyed the illustrations.
The author is not as judgmental as many European writers of travel books in the 1920s; he acknowledges the cultural difference: “The Burman know that happiness is better than wealth” --- whereas “The Englishman believes that wealth is better than happiness, or at least synonymous with it.” He frees himself to simply observe by getting that difference acknowledged from the beginning…also recognizing that the colonial system will try to force Burmese culture to move toward the European/English, perhaps destroying the focus on happiness over wealth entirely.
And here we are 100 years later….so many people still conflicted about the relationship between wealth and happiness.
