The culture of the Shan peoples of Burma and their rulers is extensively explored in this volume. Shan courts flourished in the late British colonial period and in this book rare early photographs, never before published, document life in the courts and in the hill regions of Shan dominion. Susan Conway focuses again on dress and the use of textiles in the Shan states, as well as on historical chronicles, to define a fascinating people of old Burma. Lavish illustrations bring to life a rich cultural tradition of mainland Southeast Asia.