132 Book Review: The State in Myanmar, by Robert Taylor, London: Hurst and Company 2009, 555 pages, plus xxv Index Myint Zan* In his Preface of May 2008 to the revised edition of his book, Robert Taylor recommends “to those who may be enraged by reading this volume” 1 first to consider ‘Matthew Chapter 18, Verse 9’ and ‘on second thought [he recommends those who would be so ‘enraged’ to] just put the book down.’ He added somewhat mischievously, indeed condescendingly albeit –one presumes– flippantly that “apoplexy is not a pretty sight.” 2 Those words were written in May 2008 in the immediate aftermath of the (almost) apocalyptic 3 (at least for its victims) Cyclone Nargis that struck Burma. The Burmese military government’s cavalier actions in regard to that humanitarian disaster intensified and aggravated the human suffering of hundreds of thousands of survivors. During that traumatic period the so-called national referendum to adopt the 2008 Constitution was held. Taylor discusses both those events, but given the sweep and perspective of the volume it was relatively brief. Excerpts of solid praises from early or previous reviewers of The State in Myanmar (2009 edition) or The State in Burma (1987 edition) can be read on the back flap. This reviewer would state that the extent and depth of research, the detailed statistics provided, the sweep and range of topics covered in Taylor’s book are both impressive and laudable. In addition, (for this reviewer) at least some if not most of the analyses and commentary contain worthy observations and insights. Despite these significant achievements, (which I am sure would readily –at least grudgingly– be acknowledged by most of his critics) 4 Professor Robert Taylor like a modern day Socrates, 5 ‘plays’ at being modest and ‘unassuming’. * Associate Professor, School of Law, Multimedia University, Malacca, Malaysia 1 Robert Taylor, The State in Myanmar, London: Hurst and Company 2009, at xviii. 2 Ibid. 3 Just as Taylor has taken a large degree of ‘raw’ rather than poetic license in inferring that those who may strongly disagree with him can be (metaphorically) seized by ‘apoplexy’ I have taken a less dramatic or ‘raw’ license in describing Cyclone Nargis as ‘almost apocalyptic’. 4 Professor Taylor has cited the work of this reviewer in his book Dr Maung Maung: Gentleman, Scholar and Patriot, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Publishinhg 2008. This reviewer and Bertil Lintner have reviewed (mostly negatively) Dr. Maung Maung’s posthumously published 1988 Uprising in Burma. Reference was made to this reviewer (and Lintner’s) review and Taylor deemed us to be ‘lesser critics’ of Dr. Maung Maung (Taylor, Dr Maung Maung, p. 4, p. 20). The reviewer does not have a copy of Taylor’s Dr Maung Maung. The comments were ‘discovered’ on the worldwide web. 5 It is well known that Socrates in a characteristic pose of both (false) modesty and (probable) arrogance declared that he ‘was the wisest men in [4 th century BC] Athens’ because according to him he knew about his ignorance whereas his enemies, critics and eventually persecutors as well as (criminal) prosecutors did not. It is not inferred