Justin Wintle has spent the past three years sorting fact from myth in the saga of Aung San Suu Kyi, so it was understandable when he sighed with relief recently upon announcing that his biography, "Perfect Hostage", was finally on the shelves.

Despite his general familiarity with Southeast Asia and his subject, the work was difficult, primarily because he was not allowed to meet Suu Kyi. Nevertheless, he insists, his painstaking research has produced the most comprehensive biography of her to date.

Wintle, who took his degree in modern history at Oxford University's Magdalen College, has previously written about Vietnam and Indonesia and edited the Rough Guide's "Histories" series. Then in 1989, during a visit to a refugee camp in Thailand's northern Tak province, he became truly aware of the harsh realities on the other side of the border.

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