Empire of Shadows: Rangoon Noir

Empire of Shadows: Rangoon Noir is set in colonial Rangoon from the late 1920s through to the end of the Second World
War. It traces the meteoric rise and bloody unraveling of Lanmadaw Phoe Toke, a dockside street fighter who claws his way
to the top of Rangoon’s underworld. As British rule weakens and Japanese forces push into Burma, Phoe Toke dominates a
treacherous world of gang warfare, police corruption, political intrigue, labour riots and wartime racketeering. He juggles
fragile alliances with British, Japanese, Indian, Chinese and Burmese powers in pursuit of wealth, influence and notoriety —
but at an ever-deepening moral cost. Phoe Toke discovers that survival demands constant reinvention in a world of transient
loyalty and power. Blending noir brutality with scrupulous historical accuracy, Empire of Shadows: Rangoon Noir gives fresh
insights into the forgotten gangster badlands of colonial Rangoon.


About the Author
Khet Zaw (pseudonym) was born in Bago, near Yangon (Rangoon). He began his career as a newspaper journalist with the
Voice Daily and later worked as an editor for Real Life Real Stories magazine. After a brief imprisonment in 2017, he turned
to fiction, drawing on historical research, journalistic reporting and real-life experiences. He has been living in exile since
2021.

Pages : 262 หน้า
Size : 13 x 19.5 ซม.
ISBN : 9786162152238