European diplomats ventured into the capital Yangon, formerly Rangoon, this week to discuss the junta's recent charm offensive, and came away little the wiser, though there are plenty of encouraging signs.

ECONOMIST: Myanmar

The working-class folk led a rowdy lifestyle on the waterfront, chipping away at the Old World charm in the hills.

BBC: Hiking and houseboats in Sausalito

Whether he was truly able to make prophecies remains open to doubt, but no reader can come away from Mr Radzinsky's biography without a powerful impression of the charm and charisma of the semi-literate bearded peasant from Siberia.

ECONOMIST: Ra-Ra-Rasputin