Most of the countries of south-east Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei and Burma, though extremely diverse in their cultures and political systems, have two things in common: up to 1997, they had been enjoying extraordinary economic growth; after 1997, their economies have crashed. After years of growth rates that Western politicians would die for, things have started going badly wrong for the countries of south-east Asia. Victor Mallet's book uses interviews with politicians and drug addicts, environmentalists and warlords, prostitutes, peasant farmers and captains of industry. It examines in detail the miracle that turned sour.