As a British teenager, Mabey met a beautiful Burmese girl on the school bus. Her family self-exiled in 1964, soon after the military coup, to start a new life in England. His fascination is fired for this far-off land. How did Burma, with such a regal past, swathed in natural beauty and populated by a people of unmistakable poise and serenity slide into repression and obscurity? How can the up-beat memories of April's parents be reconciled with Myanmar's current malaise? Over 16 years he recorded the oral history, anecdotes and reminiscences of the family who were eye witnesses to momentous events in mid-century Burma. These together with more recent conversations—with Aung San Suu Kyi and a range of Burmese millennials—provide a unique portrait of Myanmar stretching back to April's great, great grandfather in 1852.