A true tale of high adventure in the South Seas.The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the Indonesian archipelago. Just two miles long and half a mile wide, it is remote, tranquil, and, these days, largely ignored.Yet 370 years ago, Run's harvest of nutmeg (a pound of which yielded a 3,200 percent profit by the time it arrived in England) turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and the British Crown. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland but in return was given Manhattan. This led not only to the birth of New York but also to the beginning of the British Empire.Such a deal was due to the persistence of one man. Nathaniel Courthope and his small band of adventurers were sent to Run in October 1616, and for four years held off the massive Dutch navy. Nathaniel's Nutmeg centers on the remarkable showdown between Courthope and the Dutch Governor General Jan Coen, and the brutal fate of the mariners racing to Run--and the other corners of the globe--to reap the huge profits of the spice trade. Written with the flair of a historical sea novel but based on rigorous research, Giles Milton's Nathaniel's Nutmeg is a brilliant adventure story by Giles Milton, a writer who has been hailed as the "new Bruce Chatwin" (Mail on Sunday). Read more

Discover Majapahit, the mighty empire in Southeast Asia that many have never heard of. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Majapahit kingdom reigned supreme in eastern Java, and its influence stretched far and wide, throughout present-day Indonesia, parts of the Malay peninsula and the island of Tumasek, now Singapore. Majapahit's army famously repelled Kublai Khan's invasion, and its formidable navy humbled even the renowned Portuguese mariners. Walk the bustling streets of Majapahit, a melting pot of aristocratic Javanese, shaven-head Brahmins, hermits in bark cloth, widows dressed in white, and Chinese, Persian and Arab traders. Discover beautiful temples and imposing palaces, and markets brimming with goods from all over Asia. At the heart of Majapahit's story are eccentric kings and queens embroiled in bloody family feuds, and a tipsy court scribe who has the good sense to write down everything he sees. Witness the drama of royal intrigues, murders, revenge and war. This is not just the story of an empire's rise and fall, it is an exploration of a society rich in religious diversity, social tolerance and artistic achievement, and a society - much like Indonesia today - which must navigate its way in the challenging tapestry of Chinese and Southeast Asian geopolitics. Read more

"A spectacular achievement and one of the very best travel books I have read." —Simon Winchester, Wall Street JournalDeclaring independence in 1945, Indonesia said it would "work out the details of the transfer of power etc. as soon as possible." With over 300 ethnic groups spread across over 13,500 islands, the world’s fourth most populous nation has been working on that "etc." ever since. Author Elizabeth Pisani traveled 26,000 miles in search of the links that bind this disparate nation. Read more

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From the acclaimed author of People Who Eat Darkness comes this “deeply felt” account of Indonesia at the crossroads of freedom and terror (Time, Asia).   In the last years of the twentieth century, foreign correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry found himself in the vast island nation of Indonesia, one of the most alluring, mysterious, and violent countries in the world. For thirty-two years, it had been paralyzed by the grip of the dictator and mystic General Suharto, but now the age of Suharto was coming to an end. Would freedom prevail, or was the “time of madness” predicted centuries before now at hand?   On the island of Borneo, tribesmen embarked on a rampage of headhunting and cannibalism. Vast jungles burned uncontrollably; money lost its value; there were plane crashes and volcanic eruptions. Then, after Suharto’s tumultuous fall, came the vote on East Timor’s independence from Indonesia. And it was here, trapped in the besieged compound of the United Nations, that Richard reached his own breaking point.   A book of hair-raising immediacy and psychological unravelling, In the Time of Madness is an accomplishment in the great tradition of Conrad, Orwell, and Ryszard Kapuściński. Read more

Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of the World's Largest Archipelago Indonesia is by far the largest nation in Southeast Asia and has the fourth largest population in the world after the United States. Indonesian history and culture are especially relevant today as the Island nation is an emerging power in the region with a dynamic new leader. It is a land of incredible diversity and unending paradoxes that has a long and rich history stretching back a thousand years and more. Indonesia is the fabled "Spice Islands" of every school child's dreams--one of the most colorful and fascinating countries in history. These are the islands that Europeans set out on countless voyages of discovery to find and later fought bitterly over in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. This was the land that Christopher Columbus sought, and Magellan actually reached and explored. One tiny Indonesian island was even exchanged for the island of Manhattan in 1667! This fascinating history book tells the story of Indonesia as a narrative of kings, traders, missionaries, soldiers and revolutionaries, featuring stormy sea crossings, fiery volcanoes, and the occasional tiger. It recounts the colorful visits of foreign travelers who have passed through these shores for many centuries--from Chinese Buddhist pilgrims and Dutch adventurers to English sea captains and American movie stars. For readers who want an entertaining introduction to Asia's most fascinating country, this is delightful reading. Read more

From the internationally best-selling writer, a masterful account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonization of the modern world.On a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and, on behalf of 68 million compatriots, announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after World War II.In this vivid history, renowned scholar and celebrated author of Congo David Van Reybrouck captures a period of extraordinary tumult and chaos to tell the story of Indonesia’s momentous revolution, known as the “Revolusi.” Encompassing several hundred years of history, he details the formation of the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese invasion that followed, and the young rebels who engaged in armed resistance once the occupation ended. British and Dutch troops were sent to restore order and keep peace, but instead ignited the first modern war of decolonization. America, too, became embroiled with the Indonesians’ fierce struggle for freedom. That struggle inspired independence movements in Asia, Africa, and the Arab world, especially in the wake of Indonesia’s monumental 1955 Bandung Conference, the first global conference without the West. The whole world had become involved in Revolusi, and the whole world was changed by it.Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eyewitness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative, written with remarkable historical clarity and filled with tragedy and passion. A landmark history, Revolusi cements Indonesia’s struggle for independence as one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century and entirely reframes our understanding of post-colonialism. Read more

**Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024**A story of staggering scope and drama, Revolusi is the masterful and definitive account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonisation of the modern world.'Astounding . . . history at its best' Yuval Noah Harari'Utterly compelling . . . astonishing' Financial Times'Superb' GuardianOn a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of tired people raised a homemade cotton flag and on behalf of 68 million compatriots announced the birth of a new nation: Indonesia.Four million civilians had died during the Japanese wartime occupation that ousted its Dutch colonial regime. Another 200,000 people would lose their lives in the astonishingly brutal conflict that ensued - as the Dutch used savage violence to reassert their control, and as Britain and America became embroiled in pacifying Indonesia's guerrilla war of resistance: the 'Revolusi'. It was not until December 1949 that the newly created United Nations finally brought the conflict to an end - and with it, 350 years of colonial rule - setting a precedent that would reshape the world.Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eye-witness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative that is alive with human detail at every turn. A landmark publication, Revolusi shows Indonesia's struggle for independence to be one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century.'A magnificent fusion of oral history, sparkling analysis, and historical wisdom. Revolusi has it all: a masterpiece' Sebastain Mallaby'A magisterial and gripping account of events of urgent importance to us now' Jason Burke'A wonderful book' Peter Frankopan'Masterly' J M Coetzee** Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize ** A Financial Times, Evening Standard, History Today and Prospect Best Book of 2024 ** Read more

The USA is widely seen as the country at the centre of the recent economic crash. But will this be the case the next time the system goes into shock? This book analyses how the political and economic imbalances in China will exacerbate system collapse, and how this could happen much sooner than we imagine, possibly within a decade.By looking at the big questions of class struggle, global economic imbalances, peak oil, climate change and political power play, Minqi Li argues that by the time of the next crisis, China will be at the epicentre of these contradictions.China is the last large region, and source of cheap labour, into which capital could expand: the system is at its limits. By combining this argument with issues surrounding the planet’s ecological limits and the internal politics of the Chinese Communist Party, Li commands a narrative of China at a pivotal, and possibly apocalyptic stage. Read more

In 1816, the climate went berserk. The winter brought extreme cold, and torrential rains unleashed massive flooding in Asia. Western Europe and North America experienced a ‘year without a summer’, while failed harvests in 1817 led to the ‘year of famine’. At the time, nobody knew that all these disturbances were the result of a single event: the eruption of Mount Tambora in what is now Indonesia – the greatest volcanic eruption in recorded history.In this book, leading climate historian Wolfgang Behringer provides the first globally comprehensive account of a climate catastrophe that would cast the world into political and social crises for years to come. Concentrating on the period between 1815 and 1820, Behringer shows how this natural occurrence led to worldwide unrest. Analysing events as diverse as the persecution of Jews in Germany, the Peterloo Massacre in the United Kingdom, witch hunts in South Africa and anti-colonial uprisings in Asia, Behringer demonstrates that no region on earth was untouched by the effects of the eruption. Drawing parallels with our world today, Tambora and its aftermath become a case study for how societies and individuals respond to climate change, what risks emerge and how they might be overcome.This comprehensive account of the impact of one of the greatest environmental disasters in human history will be of interest to a wide readership and to anyone seeking to understand better how we might mitigate the effects of climate change. Read more

Indonesia, a nation of thousands of islands and almost 250 million people, straddles the junction of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has presided over 6 per cent average yearly growth of its economy, to surpass $1 trillion. If this rate continues, Indonesia will join the world's ten biggest economies in a decade or so, just behind the so-called BRIC countries. The much-discussed recent documentary The Act of Killing revived some of its darker past, and Barack Obama's reminiscences about the childhood years he spent there briefly shone the spotlight on a country many Americans know little about. Yet as Indonesia approaches its 2014 parliamentary and presidential elections, its future is wide open. Though the largest Muslim nation by population, it remains a receiver of wisdom from the Arab world, rather than a messenger of multi-religious tolerance. Its pursuit of trade agreements with Japan and South Korea have burnished its economic ambitions, but its diplomacy is long on so-called "soft power," and short on sanctions or force. So what does the future hold for this pivotal place? Award-winning Asia-Pacific journalist Hamish McDonald's Demokrasi is an accessible and authoritative introduction to the modern history and politics of this fascinating country. Read more

Jakarta is a fascinating city. It's attraction lies in the incredibly wide variety of people - Indonesians, Chinese, Indians, Arabs and Europeans - who have arrived over the centuries, bringing with them their own habits, folklore and culture. Their descendants have resulted in a vibrant mix of people, most of them making a living along the thousands of small lanes and alleys that criss-cross the kampungs of this enormous city. Artefacts indicate that this area was inhabited from the fifth century. Hundreds of years later, a small trading post on the coast named Kelapa was founded and eventually grew into the mega-city of Jakarta with over twenty million people.This book provides a unique look at the history of Jakarta through the eyes of individuals who have walked its streets through the ages, revealing how some of the challenges confronting the city today - congestion, poverty, floods and land subsidence - mirror the struggles the city has had to face in the past. Read more

Discover the magic of the Indonesian island of Bali in this captivating book on its history, from the origins of Bali’s geological formation until modern times. Free History BONUS Inside! Bali is known as “the Island of the Gods,” with its tens of thousands of temples and shrines dating back more than a millennium to the exotic Indianized empires of Java that influenced Bali greatly. Although it bore witness to the ancient Maritime Silk Road of Southeast Asia, Bali mysteriously avoided complete domination by ocean traders and European colonizers until as late as the 20th century. Bali is visited today by millions of international tourists, not only for its magnificent beaches and lush, tropical scenery but also as a living monument of an ancient cultural past. The Balinese of today adhere faithfully to the unique Balinese Hinduism of their island paradise and continue following traditions and art forms that were brought to its shores by their ancestors thousands of years ago. In this book, you will learn: How the island of Bali was home to paleolithic humankindWhy Bali’s Asian biodiversity and rich, fertile soils are not found on the neighboring islandsWhat makes up the unique human heritage of indigenous BalineseHow the island retained its endemic Balinese Hinduism despite 1,300 years of Muslim influenceFrom where and from whom the Balinese learned their abundant skills in metalworking, crafting, sculpture, and artHow art and ritual offerings form the basis of Balinese life, from where the island draws its nameHow it was that the island nation of Bali was not interested in seafaring and maritime tradeInsight into the Balinese pride in being the true ancestors of the collapsed Javanese Indianized Majapahit EmpireHow this gentle, peaceful island consistently evaded total domination by foreign powers and curiously repelled colonialists for much of its historyAnd much more!Scroll up and click the “add to cart” button to learn more about the History of Bali! Read more

In Decolonizing Extinction Juno Salazar Parreñas ethnographically traces the ways in which colonialism, decolonization, and indigeneity shape relations that form more-than-human worlds at orangutan rehabilitation centers on Borneo. Parreñas tells the interweaving stories of wildlife workers and the centers' endangered animals while demonstrating the inseparability of risk and futurity from orangutan care. Drawing on anthropology, primatology, Southeast Asian history, gender studies, queer theory, and science and technology studies, Parreñas suggests that examining workers’ care for these semi-wild apes can serve as a basis for cultivating mutual but unequal vulnerability in an era of annihilation. Only by considering rehabilitation from perspectives thus far ignored, Parreñas contends, could conservation biology turn away from ultimately violent investments in population growth and embrace a feminist sense of welfare, even if it means experiencing loss and pain. Read more

The Chinese played a vital part in the Dutch colonial economy, and their economic role has remained important throughout the centuries. Starting in the early 1900s, China also influenced their socio-political life. After the Chinese in the Dutch East Indies managed to shed most discriminatory regulations in the first decades of the twentieth century, they again had to strive for their rights in the new Republic of Indonesia. This proved to be a difficult process filled with tension surrounding the issues of culture, ethnicity and nationality. In this book, Patricia Tjiook-Liem puts Chinese Indonesians at the centre of Dutch colonial and Indonesian history, and takes you through the most important periods in this often underexposed history. Read more

The author and WWII fighter pilot offers a firsthand look at an RAF squadron’s harrowing fate in this candid combat memoir.   Before he became a prolific author of history and fiction, Terence Kelly served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying Hawker Hurricanes in combat against the Japanese. Hurricanes Over the Jungle is Kelly’s personal account of what happened to the twenty-two pilots of No. 258 Squadron, RAF, after leaving Scotland in late October 1941. One hundred and twenty days later, all those who had not been killed became prisoners of the Japanese.   This heartbreaking story takes readers to the final defense of Singapore and then on to Sumatra and Java. In his vivid narrative, Kelly recaptures the atmosphere of squadron life, the bitter aerial engagements with the Japanese enemy, and the hostile jungle terrain over which they fought. For its honest depiction of front line combat, and its criticism of British and Allied failures that resulted in lost lives, Hurricane Over the Jungle offers an important perspective on the Pacific Theater of World War II. Read more

A military history of the two campaigns British and Commonwealth forces fought against Communist terrorists in Malaya during the mid-twentieth century. The struggle with Communist terrorists in Malaya known as The Emergency became a textbook example of how to fight a guerrilla war, based on political as much as military means. This book deals with both the campaign fought by British, Commonwealth, and other security forces in Malaya against Communist insurgents, between 1948 and 1960, and also the security action in North Borneo during the period of Confrontation with Indonesia from 1962 to 1966. Both campaigns provided invaluable experience in the development of anti-guerrilla tactics, and are relevant to the conduct of similar actions which have been fought against insurgent elements since then. The book written with the full co-operation of various departments of the UK Ministry of Defence contains material that until recently remained classified.This is the first full study to cover the role of airpower in these conflicts. It will be of relevance to students at military colleges, and those studying military history, as well as having a more general appeal, particularly to those servicemen and women who were involved in both campaigns. Read more

Descubra la magia de la isla indonesia de Bali en este fascinante libro sobre su historia, desde los orígenes de la formación geológica de Bali hasta los tiempos modernos.Bali es conocida como “la Isla de los Dioses”, con sus decenas de miles de templos y santuarios que se remontan a más de un milenio de los exóticos imperios indios de Java que influyeron enormemente en Bali. Aunque fue testigo de la antigua Ruta Marítima de la Seda del Sudeste Asiático, Bali evitó misteriosamente el dominio total de los comerciantes oceánicos y los colonizadores europeos hasta el siglo XX.Hoy en día, Bali es visitada por millones de turistas internacionales, no solo por sus magníficas playas y su exuberante paisaje tropical, sino también como monumento vivo de un antiguo pasado cultural. Los balineses de hoy se adhieren fielmente al singular hinduismo balinés de su isla paradisíaca y continúan siguiendo las tradiciones y formas artísticas que trajeron a sus costas sus antepasados hace miles de años.En este libro, aprenderá:Cómo la isla de Bali fue el hogar de la humanidad paleolíticaPor qué la biodiversidad asiática de Bali y sus ricos y fértiles suelos no se encuentran en las islas vecinasEn qué consiste el singular patrimonio humano de los indígenas balinesesCómo la isla conservó su hinduismo balinés endémico a pesar de 1.300 años de influencia musulmanaDe dónde y de quién aprendieron los balineses sus abundantes conocimientos en metalurgia, artesanía, escultura y arteCómo el arte y las ofrendas rituales constituyen la base de la vida balinesa, de la que la isla toma su nombreCómo fue que la nación insular de Bali no se interesó por la navegación y el comercio marítimoEl orgullo balinés de ser los verdaderos ancestros del colapsado imperio javanés mayapahitCómo esta isla apacible y pacífica eludió sistemáticamente el dominio total de las potencias extranjeras y repelió curiosamente a los colonialistas durante gran parte de su historiaY mucho más¡Adquiera este libro ahora para aprender más sobre la historia de Bali! Read more

After Suharto gained power in Indonesia in the mid-1960s, he stayed as the country's president for more than three decades, helped by the powerful military, hefty foreign aid and support from a coterie of cronies. A pivotal business backer for his New Order government was Liem Sioe Liong, a migrant from China, who arrived in Java in 1938. A combination of the Suharto connection, serendipity and personal charm propelled him to become the wealthiest tycoon in Southeast Asia. This is the story of how Liem built the Salim Group, a conglomerate that in its heyday controlled Indonesia's largest non-state bank, the country's dominant cement producer and flour mill, as well as the world's biggest maker of instant noodles. The book features exclusive input from Liem, who died in 2012, and his youngest son, Anthony Salim. It traces the founder's life and the group's symbiosis with Suharto, his generals and family. After the tumultuous 1997–98 Asian financial crisis sparked Suharto's fall and a backlash against the strongman's cronies, Anthony staved off the crushing of the debt-laden group. Told in a journalistic style, the story of the Salim Group provides insights into Suharto's New Order. For business executives, students and anyone with an interest in Southeast Asia's largest economy, the volume makes a valuable contribution towards understanding the country's modern history. Read more

The History of Indonesia takes you on a clear and detailed journey through one of the most diverse places on earth. From the earliest tribal societies to the rise of powerful kingdoms and later colonial pressures, this eBook highlights the many layers of Indonesia history that shaped the archipelago. Readers will see how regional influences from Southeast Asia history and international trade routes brought new beliefs, ideas, and customs that blended with Indonesian traditions over time.Explore how local rulers built alliances with merchants and scholars to establish vibrant ports, supporting the famous spice trade that connected these islands with the rest of the world. Dive into stories of Hindu-Buddhist dynasties, Islamic sultanates, and the arrival of European powers, all woven into the larger context of Southeast Asian cultures. This history of Indonesia eBook shows how local communities adapted to religious changes, forged unique cultural identities, and carried on daily life despite shifting political forces.Across these pages, you will meet sultans, reformers, and everyday people who played crucial roles in shaping local customs. Their experiences demonstrate how Indonesian history eBooks are more than records of past events—they are vivid stories of adaptation and resilience. Each chapter reveals how inland villages, coastal ports, and growing urban centers responded to new faiths, technology, and governance models in ways that enriched the archipelago’s cultural landscape.This eBook is an inviting read for anyone wanting a complete overview of Southeast Asian history, scholars seeking fresh perspectives, or travelers curious about Indonesian traditions. Step into an archipelago where cultures meet, faiths merge, and leaders rise to guide communities through centuries of change. Read more