Staff Publications
Categorised by author (arranged alphabetically by last name)
For more information on each title, please click on the corresponding image.
Maitrii Aung-Thwin
The Return of the Galon King: History, Law, and Rebellion in Colonial Burma
Author: Maitrii Aung-Thwin
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0896802760
ISBN-13: 978-0896802766
In late 1930, on a secluded mountain overlooking the rural paddy fields of British Burma, a peasant leader named Saya San crowned himself King and inaugurated a series of uprisings that would later erupt into one of the largest anti-colonial rebellions in Southeast Asian history. Considered an imposter by the British, a hero by nationalists, and a prophet-king by area-studies specialists, Saya San came to embody traditional Southeast Asia’s encounter with European colonialism in his attempt to resurrect the lost throne of Burma.
The Return of the Galon King analyzes the legal origins of the Saya San story and reconsiders the facts upon which the basic narrative and interpretations of the rebellion are based. Aung-Thwin reveals how counter-insurgency law produced and criminalized Burmese culture, contributing to the way peasant resistance was recorded in the archives and understood by Southeast Asian scholars.
This interdisciplinary study reveals how colonial anthropologists, lawyers, and scholar-administrators produced interpretations of Burmese culture that influenced contemporary notions of Southeast Asian resistance and protest. It provides a fascinating case study of how history is treated by the law, how history emerges in legal decisions, and how the authority of the past is used to validate legal findings.
A New History of Southeast Asia
Authors: M.C. Ricklefs, Bruce Lockhart, Albert Lau, Portia Reyes, Maitrii Aung-Thwin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0230212131
ISBN-13: 978-0230212138
A new, comprehensive, one volume history of Southeast Asia that spans prehistory to the present. Ricklefs brings together colleagues at the National University of Singapore whose expertise covers the entire region, encompassing political, social, economic, religious and cultural history.
Opening with an account of the ethnic groups and initial cultural and social structures of Southeast Asia, the book moves through the early 'classical' states, the arrival of new global religions and the impact of non-indigenous actors. The history of early modern states and their colonial successors is followed by analysis of World War II across the region, Offering a definitive account of decolonisation and early post-colonial nation-building, the text then transports us to modern-day Southeast Asia, exploring its place in a world recovering from the financial crisis.
The distinguished author team provide an authoritative and accessible narrative, drawing upon the latest research and offering detailed guidance on further reading. A landmark contribution to the field, this is an essential text for scholars, students and anyone interested in Southeast Asia.
A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times: Traditions and Transformations
Authors: Michael Aung-Thwin, Maitrii Aung-Thwin
Publisher: Reakticon Books
Year Published: 2012
ISBN-10: 1861899017
ISBN-13: 978-1861899019
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, known amongst English speakers as Burma, is often characterized as a place of repressive military rule, civil war, censorship and corrupt elections – and despite recent attempts to promote tourism to this little-known country, few people visit this region of Asia.
In A History of Myanmar since Ancient Times, Michael Aung-Thwin and Maitrii Aung-Thwin take us from the sacred stupas of the plains of Bagan to the grand, colonial-era British mansions, revealing the storied past and rich culture of this country. The book traces the traditions and transformations of Myanmar over nearly three millennia, from the relics of its Neolithic civilization to the protests of Buddhist monks in the early twentieth century, the colonial era of British rule and the republic that followed. The authors also consider the present-day life, culture and society of the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia and examine the 2010 elections – its first in over twenty years.
The most comprehensive history of Myanmar ever published in the English language, this book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Southeast Asian history and will surprise, challenge and inform in equal measure.
Timothy P. Barnard
Raja Kecil: Dan Mitos Pengabsahannya (Raja Kecil and His Legitimation Myth)
Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publisher: Pusat Pengajian Melayu
Year Published: 1994
This Malay language work, which can be translated as “Raja Kecil and His Legitimation Myth”, focuses on the first ruler of the Siak polity, who came to power in 1718 through his ability to exploit myths and legends of the Malay World. The text discusses the role of myths in Malay history, and how scholars who focus on the region have dealt with his manipulation of the social belief system and understandings of the past. This monograph is a standard text for historiographical studies in Sumatra.
Multiple Centres of Authority: Society and Environment in Siak and Eastern Sumatra, 1674-1827
Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publisher: KITLV Press and Brill Academic Publishers
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 9067182192
ISBN-13: 978-9067-18-219-5
Based on Dutch East Indies Company archives and traditional Malay texts, this book examines the rise of a Malay state in the early modern era. It focuses on the ecological frontier of eastern Sumatra, with its multi-ethnic communities, and how they were able to transform the Siak polity, in the words of an English visitor, into a “summit of prosperity” by the end of the eighteenth century. Particular emphasis is placed on the methods Siak leaders used to unite the disparate communities in the region, and how this was viewed in other Malay communities. An Indonesian language version of this work was published as Pusat Kekuasan Ganda (Pekanbaru: Universitas Riau, 2006).
Contesting Malayness: Malay Identity Across Boundaries
Editor: Timothy P. Barnard
Publisher: Singapore University Press/NUS Press
Year published: 2004
ISBN-10: 9971698455
ISBN-13: 978-9971698454
People who call themselves Malay – Melayu – are found in many countries, united by a notional shared identity but divided by political boundaries, divergent histories, variant dialects and peculiarities of local experience. While the term ‘Malay’ is widely used and readily understood in Southeast Asia, it remains elusive and open to varying interpretations. ‘Malay’ as an identity, or nationality, is one of the most challenging and perplexing concepts in the multi-ethnic world of Southeast Asia.
This book assembles research developed by a wide range of scholars on the theme of how Malays have identified themselves in time and place. The authors include Malaysian anthropologist Shamsul A.B., Indonesian poet Tenas Effendy, as well as linguists and historians based in Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and the U.S.A. While the authors describe some of the historical and cultural patterns that make up the Malay world, taken as a whole their work demonstrates the impossibility of offering a definition or even a description of ‘Melayu’ that is not rife with omissions and contradictions.
Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore
Editor: Timothy P. Barnard
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2014
ISBN-10: 9971697904
ISBN-13: 978-9971697907
How has Singapore's environment and location in a zone of extraordinary biodiversity influenced the economic, political, social, and intellectual history of the island since the early 19th century? What are the antecedents to Singapore's image of itself as a City in a Garden? Grounding the story of Singapore within an understanding of its environment opens the way to an account of the past that is more than a story of trade, immigration, and nation-building.
Each of the chapters in this volume focusing on topics ranging from tigers and plantations to trade in exotic animals and the greening of the city, and written by botanists, historians, anthropologists, and naturalists examines how humans have interacted with and understood the natural environment on a small island in Southeast Asia over the past 200 years, and conversely how this environment has influenced humans.
Nature’s Colony: Empire, Nation and Environment in the Singapore Botanic Gardens
Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2016
ISBN-10: 9814722227
ISBN-13: 978-9814722223
Established in 1859, Singapore’s Botanic Gardens has been important as a park for Singaporeans and visitors, a scientific institution, and as an economic testing ground and launchpad for tropical plantation agriculture around the world. Underlying each of these stories is the broader narrative of the Botanic Gardens as an arena where power and the natural world meet and interact, a story that has impact far beyond the boundaries of its grounds.
Initially conceived to exploit nature for the benefit of empire, the Gardens were part of a symbolic struggle by administrators, scientists, and gardeners to assert dominance within Southeast Asia’s tropical landscape, reflecting shifting understandings of power, science and nature among local administrators and distant mentors in Britain. With the independence of Singapore, the Gardens has had to find a new role, first in the “greening” of post-independence Singapore, and now as Singapore's first World Heritage Site.
Setting the Singapore gardens alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and botanic gardens in India, Ceylon, Mauritius and the West Indies, this book tells the story of nature’s colony — a place where plants were collected, classified and cultivated to change our understanding of the region and world.
A Chinese language version of the book was published in 2020 through Tongji University Press, under the title: 大自然的殖民地：新加坡植物园史话
Imperial Creatures: Humans and Other Animals in Colonial Singapore, 1819-1942
Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publishers: NUS Press
Year Published: 2019
ISBN-10: 9813250879
ISBN-13: 978-9813250871
This is one of the first books to focus on the effects of imperialism across species in a colonial, urban society, reflecting the environmental turn in the humanities and social sciences. Through a multi-disciplinary consideration of fauna, this work weaves together a series of tales to document how animals were cherished, slaughtered, monitored and employed to provide insight into how imperial rule was imposed on an island in Southeast Asia.
Fauna and their histories of interacting with humans, thus, become useful tools for understanding our past, revealing the effects of establishing a colony on the biodiversity of a region, and the institutions that quickly transformed it. All animals, including humans, have been creatures of imperialism in Singapore. Their stories teach us lessons about the structures that upheld such a society and how it developed over time.
Singaporean Creatures: Histories of Humans and Other Animals in the Garden City
Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publishers: NUS Press
Year Published: 2024
ISBN: 978-981-325-238-7
Modern Singapore is the Garden City, a biophilic urban space that includes a variety of animals, from mosquitoes to humans to even polar bears. Singaporean Creatures brings together historians to contemplate this human-animal relationship and how it has shaped society—socially, economically, politically, and environmentally. It is a work of historical and ecological analysis, in which various institutions, perspectives, and events involving animals provide insight into how the larger society has been formed and developed over the last half-century. The interaction of all Singaporean creatures thus provides a lens through which we can understand the creation of a modern and urban nation-state, shaped by the forces of the Anthropocene.
This is modal title
Singaporean Creatures: Histories of Humans and Other Animals in the Garden City
Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publishers: NUS Press
Year Published: 2024
ISBN: 978-981-325-238-7
Modern Singapore is the Garden City, a biophilic urban space that includes a variety of animals, from mosquitoes to humans to even polar bears. Singaporean Creatures brings together historians to contemplate this human-animal relationship and how it has shaped society—socially, economically, politically, and environmentally. It is a work of historical and ecological analysis, in which various institutions, perspectives, and events involving animals provide insight into how the larger society has been formed and developed over the last half-century. The interaction of all Singaporean creatures thus provides a lens through which we can understand the creation of a modern and urban nation-state, shaped by the forces of the Anthropocene.
Imperial Creatures: Humans and Other Animals in Colonial Singapore, 1819-1942
Peter Borschberg
Hugo Grotius "Commentarius in Theses XI": An Early Treatise on Sovereignty, the Just War, and the Legitimacy of the Dutch Revolt
Author: Peter Borschberg
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing
Year Published: 1994
ISBN-10: 3906752836
ISBN-13: 9783906752839
Hugo Grotius ranks among the influential thinkers of the early-modern period. The hitherto unpublished treatise "Commentarius in Theses XI" provides one of the most comprehensive insights into the young Grotius' concepts of sovereignty, the just war, and the legitimacy of the Dutch Revolt.
South East Asia: Colonial History; Volume 1: Imperialism Before 1800
Editor: Peter Borschberg
Publisher: Routledge
Year Published: 2001
ISBN-10: 0415215390
ISBN-13: 978-0415215398
The six volumes that make up this set provide an overview of colonialism in South East Asia. The first volume deals with Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch Imperialism before 1800, the second with empire-building during the Nineteenth Century, and the third with the imperial heyday in the early Twentieth Century. The remaining volumes are devoted to the decline of empire, covering nationalism and the Japanese challenge to the Western presence in the region, and the transition to independence. The authors whose works are anthologised include both official participants, and scholars who wrote about events from a more detached perspective. Wherever possible, authors have been chosen who had first-hand experience in the region.
Iberians in the Singapore-Melaka Area (16th to 18th Century)
Editor: Peter Borschberg
Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag
Year Published: 2004
ISBN-10: 3447051078
ISBN-13: 978-3447051071
This collection of essays places the Straits of Singapore and Melaka and their surrounding regions in a larger pattern of world trade and international diplomacy between of approximately 1500-1800. The contributions contained in this volume address a range of interdisciplinary issues pertaining to the presence and expansion of Portuguese and Spanish influence across the region. The authors draw on a wide range of source material in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Chinese, making some of them accessible to an English language readership for the first time.
Water and State in Europe and Asia
Editors: Peter Borschberg, Martin Krieger
Publisher: Manohar Publishers
Year Published: 2008
ISBN-10: 8173047766
ISBN-13: 978-8173047763
Based on presentations at the International Colloquium on "Water and State in Europe and Asia," June 2004 at the University of Greifswald.
Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese, and Free Trade in the East Indies
Author: Peter Borschberg
Publishers: KITLV Press and NUS Press
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 9971694670
ISBN-13: 978-9971694678
In 1603, Dutch Admiral Jakob van Heemskerk plundered a Portuguese merchantman, the Santa Catarina, travelling from Macao to Melaka. The sale of the cargo at a public auction made traders across Northern Europe aware of the riches to be reaped from Asian trade. However, the episode raised legal questions and the United Dutch East India Company (VOC) commissioned the young Hugo Grotius to defend Heemskerk's actions. Grotius produced two classic legal texts, The Law of Price and Booty and its spin-off, The Free Sea, among the greatest works in the history of international legal and political thought. His observations dealt with free trade in the East Indies, the Dutch Republic's military conflict with the Portuguese and Spanish in Asia, and the legal and moral grounds for attacking and plundering Portuguese and Spanish mercantile shipping.
Jacques de Coutre's Singapore and Johor 1594-c. 1625
Editor: Peter Borschberg
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2015
ISBN-10: 9971698528
ISBN-13: 978-9971698522 (Paperback)
The Flemish gem trader Jacques de Coutre visited Southeast Asia in the early 17th century, and his lengthy account of his experiences provides a glimpse of Singapore, Johor and the Straits of Melaka during an era for which little written material has survived. This special edition, which presents highlights from the full translation, is designed to provide students, teachers and the wider public with a glimpse of this tumultuous region when it was still controlled by local rulers, and Western colonialism was just gaining a foothold. The author describes dangerous intrigues involving fortune hunters and schemers, as well as local rulers and couriers, adventures that on several occasions nearly cost him his life.
The manuscripts come from a bundle of documents preserved at the National Library of Spain in Madrid that includes De Coutre sautobiography and several memorials to the Crowns of Spain and Portugal. Chapters from the autobiography have been excerpted from book I, which covers the writer s life in Southeast Asia between 1593 and 1603. A glossary and list of place names provide information about officials, goods and places mentioned in the text that will be unfamiliar to readers of English.
The Singapore and Melaka Straits: Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century
Author: Peter Borschberg
Publishers: NUS Press and KITLV
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 9971694646
ISBN-13: 978-9971-69-464-7
The Singapore and Melaka Straits are a place where regional and long-distance maritime trading networks converge, linking Europe, the Mediterranean, eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent with key centres of trade in Thailand, Indochina, insular Southeast Asia, China, Korea and Japan. The first half of the seventeenth century brought heightened political, commercial and diplomatic activity to this region. It has long been clear to both the Portuguese and the Dutch that whoever controlled the waters off modern Singapore gained a firm grip on regional as well as long-distance intra-Asian trade. By the early 1600s Portuguese power and prestige were waning and the arrival of the Dutch East India Company constituted a major threat. Moreover, the rapid expansion and growing power of the Acehnese Empire, and rivalry between Johor and Aceh, was creating a new context for European trade in Asia.
Drawing on maps, rare printed works, and unpublished manuscripts written in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Latin, Peter Borschberg provides new information on the diplomatic activities of Asian powers, and shows how the Portuguese and Spanish attempted to restore their political fortunes by containing the rapid rise of Dutch Power in the region. Key documents, transcribed and translated into English for the first time, make up a series of appendices.
The product of more than two decades of research in European libraries, archives, The Singapore and Melaka Straits will be of great interest to readers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where little is known about this pivotal pre-colonial period. It is also an invaluable resource for historians and other students of early modern Europe and of the European presence in Asia.
Admiral Matelieff's Singapore and Johor, 1606-1616
Editor: Peter Borschberg
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2016
ISBN-10: 9814722189
ISBN-13: 978-9814722186 (Paperback)
Few authors have as much to say about Singapore and Johor in the early 17th century as Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge (c.1570‒1632). This admiral of the Dutch East India Company sailed to Asia in 1605 and besieged Portuguese Melaka in 1606 with the help of Malay allies. A massive Portuguese armada arrived from Goa to fight the Dutch at sea, break the siege and relieve the Portuguese colony. During his Asian voyage and on his return to Europe in September 1608, Matelieff penned a series of letters and memorials in which he provided a candid assessment of trading opportunities and politics in Asia. He advised the VOC and leading government officials of the Dutch Republic to take a long term view of Dutch involvement in Asia and fundamentally change the way they were doing business there. Singapore, the Straits region, and Johor assumed a significant role in his overall assessment. At one stage he seriously contemplated establishing the VOC’s main Asian base at a location near the Johor River estuary. On deeper reflection, however, Matelieff and the VOC directors in Europe began to shift their attention southward and instead preferred a location around the Sunda Strait. This was arguably a near miss for Singapore two full centuries before Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the British trading post on the island in 1819.
The Memoirs and Memorials of Jacques de Coutre: Security, Trade and Society in 16th- and 17th-century Southeast Asia
Editor: Peter Borschberg
Translated by: Roopanjali Roy
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2013
ISBN-10: 9971697831
ISBN-13: 978-9971695286 (Paperback), 978-9971697839 (Hardback)
Jacques de Coutre was a Flemish gem trader who spent nearly a decade in Southeast Asia at the turn of the 17th century. He left history a substantial autobiography written in Spanish and preserved in the National Library of Spain in Madrid. Written in the form of a picaresque tale, with an acute eye for the cultures he encountered, the memoirs tell the story of his adventures in the trading centres of the day: Melaka, Ayutthaya, Cambodia, Patani, Pahang, Johor, Brunei and Manila. Narrowly escaping death several times, De Coutre was inevitably drawn into dangerous intrigues between the representatives of European power, myriad fortune hunters and schemers, and the rulers and courtiers in the palaces of Pahang, Patani, Siam and Johor.
In addition to his autobiography, De Coutre wrote a series of memorials to the crowns of Spain and Portugal that contain recommendations designed to remedy the decline in the fortunes of the Iberian powers in Southeast Asia, particularly against the backdrop of early Dutch political and commercial penetration into the region.
Annotated and translated into English for the first time, these materials provide a valuable first-hand account of the issues confronting the early colonial powers in Southeast Asia, and deep insights into the societies De Coutre encountered in the territory that today makes up Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. The book is lavishly illustrated with 62 maps and drawings of the period, including many examples not previously published.
Studying Singapore Before 1800
Editors: Kwa Chong Guan, Peter Borschberg
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 981472274X
ISBN-13: 9789814722742
Historians rely on Singapore’s strategic position to explain its great success as a royal trading port in the 14th century, and as a British colony after 1819. What, then, accounts for the many centuries when it seemed not to thrive, and was seen in the words of John Crawfurd as “only the occasional resort of pirates”? This seeming paradox sits uneasily at the heart of Singapore historiography, and over time historians have suggested a variety of ways to resolve it.
This volume collects studies about Singapore before 1800, bringing together different efforts across the 20th century at reconstructing Singapore’s “missing years”. Some authors have found additional details by scouring ancient and early modern texts for references to Singapore, and by reading well-known classics such as the Sejarah Melayu against the grain. Others have built narratives that bridge pre- and post-1800 perspectives by positioning Singapore within long-term global history.
These efforts have yielded a much richer understanding of Singapore’s changing fortunes before 1800. The articles collected in this volume represent key milestones in this effort. Many are hard to locate, and two pieces are translated from Dutch to English for the first time. They are presented here with an introduction from historian Kwa Chong Guan.
Journal, Memorials and Letters of Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge: Security, Diplomacy and Commerce in 17th-century Southeast Asia
Editor: Peter Borschberg
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2015
ISBN-10: 9971695278
ISBN-13: 978-9971697983 (Paperback), 978-9971695279 (Hardback)
Few authors have as much to say about Singapore and the old Johor capital Batu Sawar as Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge (c.1570-1632). This admiral of the Dutch East India Company sailed to Asia in 1605 and besieged Portuguese Melaka in 1606 with the help of Malay allies. A massive Portuguese armada arrived from Goa to fight the Dutch at sea, break the siege and relieve the Portuguese colony. During his Asian voyage and on his return to Europe in September 1608, Matelieff penned a series of letters and memorials in which he provided a candid assessment of trading opportunities and politics in Southeast Asia. He advised the VOC and leading government officials of the Dutch Republic to take a long-term view of Dutch involvement in Asia and fundamentally change the way they were doing business there. Singapore, the Straits region, and Johor assumed a significant role in his overall assessment. At one stage seriously contemplated establishing the VOC’s main Asian base at a location near the Johor River estuary. On deeper reflection, however, Matelieff and the VOC directors in Europe began to shift their attention southward and instead came to prefer a location around the Sunda Strait. This was arguably a near miss for Singapore two full centuries before Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the British trading post on the island in 1819. This book is aimed at students, researchers and general readers who are interested in the history of Singapore and Johor as well as in answering the question: Was Singapore’s potential as a strategic and commercial center not recognized before the arrival of the British?
Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore
Authors: Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International
Year Published: 2020
ISBN-10: 9814828106
ISBN-13: 978-9814828109
Assessments of Singapore's history invariably revolve around Sir Stamford Raffles' arrival in 1819. Before this date - we've been told - "nothing very much appears to have happened in Singapore". Pre-1819 Singapore was a sleepy, historically insignificant fishing village, little more than the "occasional resort of pirates".
This ambitious book, co-written by four of Singapore's foremost historians, offers an assertive re-evaluation of that view, firmly situating Singapore's starting point seven hundred years ago. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary range of archival, textual and cartographical records, as well as the latest archaeological discoveries, the authors cast a singular historical trajectory for Singapore over the past seven centuries, animating its history like never before.
Written in a compelling and accessible manner, and richly illustrated with more than 200 artefacts, photographs, maps, art works and ephemera, this volume builds upon the foundations of an earlier book, Singapore: A 700-Year History. Extensively rewritten to incorporate ground-breaking research findings, Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore widens the historical lens and offers a vital new perspective on the story of Singapore.
Donna Brunero
Life in Treaty Port China and Japan
Editors: Donna Brunero, Stephanie Villalta Puig
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 9811073686
ISBN-13: 978-9811073687
Explores the possible comparisons and contrasts that can be made between 19th and 20th century treaty ports in China and Japan.
Considers the total way of life experienced through the physicality of the body as well as its expression through more idealist forms and values.
Offers an interdisciplinary study of ports across research strands such as medicine and health, law, material culture and the history of urban studies.
Britain's Imperial Cornerstone in China: The Chinese Maritime Customs Service, 1854 - 1949
Author: Donna Brunero
Publisher: Routledge
Year Published: 2006
ISBN-10: 041554551X
ISBN-13: 978-0415545518
This is an in-depth account of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service, a uniquely cosmopolitan institution established in the wake of China's defeat in the Opium Wars (1842 to 43), and a central feature of the Treaty Port system.
The British-dominated service was headed by the famous Robert Hart who founded a far-reaching customs administration that also encompassed other responsibilities such as marine and harbour maintenance, quarantine, anti-piracy patrols and postal services. This institution sat at a crucial juncture between Chinese and foreign interests, and was intimately linked to British interests and fortunes in the Far East. Following the establishment of the Republic in 1911 there were grave misgivings as to whether the foreign element of the Service would survive. Yet the Service grew in influence and strength, ensuring the foreign inspectorate a continued role in China's affairs.
Delivering an overview of the Service, its bureaucracy, fiscal responsibilities and life for foreigners in its employ, focusing especially on the later years of the Service, Donna Brunero draws on the experiences of the foreign administration of the Service as it attempted to negotiate between Chinese and foreign expectations and interests.
Empire in Asia, A New Global History, Volume 2: The Long Nineteenth Century
Editors: Donna Brunero, Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 1472596669
ISBN-13: 978-1472596666
Asia was the principle focus of empire-builders from Alexander and Akbar to Chinggis Khan and Qianlong and yet, until now, there has been no attempt to provide a comprehensive history of empire in the region. Empire in Asia addresses the need for a thorough survey of the topic. This volume covers the long 19th century, commonly seen in terms of ‘high imperialism’ and the global projection of Western power. This volume explores the dynamic, volatile and often contested processes by which, by the early years of the 20th century, Asian states, space and peoples became deeply integrated into the wider dynamics of global reordering. Drawing on case studies from across Asia, the contributors discuss key themes including ideology, concepts of identity, religion and politics, state building and state formation, the relationships between space, people, and sovereignty, the movements of goods, money, people and ideas, and the influence and impact of conflict and military power. The two volumes of Empire in Asia offer a significant contribution to the theory and practice of empire when considered globally and comparatively and are essential reading for all students and scholars of global, imperial and Asian history.
Sayaka Chatani
Nation-Empire: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies
Author: Sayaka Chatani
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 1501730754
ISBN-13: 978-1501730757
By the end of World War II, hundreds of thousands of young men in the Japanese colonies, in particular Taiwan and Korea, had expressed their loyalty to the empire by volunteering to join the army. Why and how did so many colonial youth become passionate supporters of Japanese imperial nationalism? And what happened to these youth after the war? Nation-Empire investigates these questions by examining the long-term mobilization of youth in the rural peripheries of Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Personal stories and village histories vividly show youth’s ambitions, emotions, and identities generated in the shifting conditions in each locality. At the same time, Sayaka Chatani unveils an intense ideological mobilization built from diverse contexts―the global rise of youth and agrarian ideals, Japan’s strong drive for assimilation and nationalization, and the complex emotions of younger generations in various remote villages.
Nation-Empire engages with multiple historical debates. Chatani considers metropole-colony linkages, revealing the core characteristics of the Japanese Empire; discusses youth mobilization, analyzing the Japanese seinendan (village youth associations) as equivalent to the Boy Scouts or the Hitler Youth; and examines society and individual subjectivities under totalitarian rule. Her book highlights the shifting state-society transactions of the twentieth-century world through the lens of the Japanese Empire, inviting readers to contend with a new approach to, and a bold vision of, empire study
Jack Meng-Tat Chia
Living with Myths in Singapore
Editors: Loh Kah Seng, Thum Ping Tjin, Jack Meng-Tat Chia
Publisher: Ethos Books
Year Published: 2017
ISBN-10: 981113281X
ISBN-13: 978-9811132810
Singapore is a mythic nation, where our ‘reality’ and ‘common sense’ are conditioned by a group of influential myths. Our main myths are examined in this collection of essays and thoughts on the social ramifications of myth-making: The Singapore Story (that our nation has a singular story), From Third World to First (our story of success), Vulnerability and Faultlines (the threats we still face despite success) and A Deficient People (the threats exist because people remain immature).
Myths build social consensus but also marginalise crucial stories, perspectives and possibilities that don’t fit the main narrative. Should we teach our students to be good citizens by telling them one unifying narrative of Singapore, or many varied narratives? Have we always said no to social welfare, or to the casino? Is liberal democracy necessarily a threat to social stability? Have Singaporeans historically been apathetic, ignorant or irrational?
The contributors to this book believe that knowing, and debating, how we live with myths will help us to better understand Singapore today, and to imagine its future. Here they share the robust discussions and debates which took place from 2014 to 2015 even as Singapore celebrated 50 years of full independence.
Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity across the South China Sea
Author: Jack Meng-Tat Chia
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year Published: 2020
ISBN-10: 0190090979
ISBN-13: 978-0190090975
Chinese Buddhists have never remained stationary. They have always been on the move. Why did Buddhist monks migrate from China to Southeast Asia? How did they participate in transregional Buddhist networks across the South China Sea? In Monks in Motion, Jack Meng-Tat Chia tells a story of monastic connectivity across the South China Sea during the twentieth century. Following in the footsteps of three prominent monks—Chuk Mor (1913–2002), Yen Pei (1917–1996), and Ashin Jinarakkhita (1923–2002)—Chia explores the connected history of Buddhist communities in China and maritime Southeast Asia.
Monks in Motion is the first book to offer a history of what Chia terms “South China Sea Buddhism,” referring to a Buddhism that emerged from a swirl of correspondence networks, forced exiles, voluntary visits, evangelizing missions, institution-building campaigns, and the organizational efforts of countless Chinese and Chinese diasporic Buddhist monks. Drawing on multilingual research conducted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, he challenges the conventional categories of “Chinese Buddhism” and “Southeast Asian Buddhism” by focusing on the lesser-known—yet no less significant—Chinese Buddhist communities of maritime Southeast Asia. By crossing the artificial spatial frontier between China and Southeast Asia, Monks in Motion brings Southeast Asia into the study of Chinese Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism into the study of Southeast Asia.
Kiprah Para Mahabiksu: Agama Buddha dan Modernitas di Asia Tenggara Maritim
Author: Jack Meng-Tat Chia
Publisher: Penerbit Karaniya (May 2022)
Year Published: 2022
ISBN: 9786021235805
Dalam buku ini pembaca akan disuguhi penelitian Jack Meng-Tat Chia seorang asisten profesor sejarah dan studi agama di Universitas Nasional Singapura. Kita akan mengetahui kiprah para mahabiksu antara lain, Master Chuk Mor (Malaysia), Master Yen Pei (Singapura), dan juga Master Ashin Jinarakhita (Indonesia). Ketiga para mahabiksu tersebut mampu membabarkan Buddhadharma dengan terampil sesuai dengan situasi dan kondisi tiap-tiap negara.
離散法緣：橫跨南海之佛教及其現代主義
Authors: 謝明達 (Jack Meng-Tat Chia)
Translator: 王思思
Publisher: World Scholastic Publishers
Year Published: 2024
ISBN: 978-981-94-1609-7
本書為作者英文專著 Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020)的中文譯本。全書以二十世紀華僧移民研究為基礎，聚焦於竺摩法師(1913–2002)、演培法師(1917–1996)和體正法師(1923–2002)的生平與弘法事蹟，敘述他們接受現代化僧伽教育、跨國跨區域的遷移過程，創新的佛教改革理念。本書亦關注他們在華人社群、非華人社群中倡導並引領的宗教實踐，乃至使佛教存續於後殖民的民族國家，助益其建設而作出的努力。
東南亞法音：新加坡佛教研究論集
Authors: 謝明達 (Jack Meng-Tat Chia)
Publisher: Boyang Wenhua
Year Published: 2025
ISBN: 9786267360460
佛教在海洋東南亞的存在及其重要性亟待學術界的關注與討論。海洋東南亞讓人聯想到馬來群島，包括穆斯林占多數的印尼、馬來西亞和汶萊，以及以天主教為主的菲律賓。新加坡由於佛教徒和華人占主導地位而時常被認為是一個特例。然而，我們應該認識作者指出「南洋佛教」的佛教形式在以伊斯蘭教和天主教為主的海洋東南亞地區及其華人社群的存在，且發揮重要作用。南洋佛教在中國和東南亞的歷史聯繫中產生，並不斷經歷著變化與創新。
本書收錄了作者近年來以新加坡佛教為主要論述對象的一系列研究成果。主題涵蓋宗教網絡、宗教外交、宗教現代化等領域，旨在通過跨學科研究，多維度、多視角的方法揭示與詮釋佛教在海洋東南亞的多元發展歷程。
The Journey of Ashin Jinarakkhita
Author: Jack Meng-Tat Chia
Publisher: Penerbit Karaniya
Illustrator: Choo Ruizhong
Year Published: 2026
ISBN: 9786347137050
The Journey of Ashin Jinarakkhita is a bilingual storybook about Tee Boan An, a curious boy from Bogor who grows up to become Ashin Jinarakkhita, the monk who revived Buddhism in Indonesia. The story follows his travels, his teachers, and the many people he meets as he learns and shares the values of kindness, peace, and understanding. Readers discover how he encouraged harmony among different communities, inspired celebrations at Borobudur, and built a welcoming Buddhist family across the country. With simple storytelling and bright illus-trations, the book shows how one person’s compassion can touch an entire nation.
Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia
Author: Jack Meng-Tat Chia
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Year Published: 2026
ISBN-10: 1350530123
ISBN-13: 978-1350530126
Redefining how we understand diplomacy, Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia reveals Buddhism as a dynamic force in shaping international relations. This groundbreaking open access book highlights individuals—including monastics, laity, political leaders, and royalty—who have strategically employed Buddhist objects, teachings, and networks to forge transregional ties and influence global politics.
Introducing the concept of Buddhist diplomacy, the book traces how Buddhism has been mobilized for soft power, cultural exchange, peacebuilding, and even geopolitical manoeuvring. From spiritual ambassadors like Taixu, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Hsing Yun to world leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Narendra Modi, and Xi Jinping, the twenty-two essays illuminate the surprising ways Buddhism has intersected with modern statecraft.
Blending historical depth with contemporary insight, this volume invites readers to rethink diplomacy not only as negotiation and policy but also as a terrain where religion, culture, and global power converge.
Gregory Clancey
Historical Perspectives in East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine
Editors: Alan K. L. Chan, Gregory K. Clancey, Hui-chieh Loy
Publisher: Singapore University Press and World Scientific Press
Year Published: 2002
ISBN-10: 9971692597
ISBN-13: 978-9971692599
This volume of selected papers from the Ninth International Conference on the History of Science in East Asia (ICHSEA) addresses diverse topics in astronomy, traditional Chinese medicine, the history of mathematics and Western Science in East Asia. ICHSEA is the major forum for scholars of science in East Asia.
The papers in the book make significant contributions to our understanding of the history of science in East and Southeast Asia.
Major Problems in the History of American Technology
Authors: Merritt Roe Smith, Gregory Clancey
Publisher: Houghton Miffin Company
Year Published: 1998
ISBN-10: 0669354724
ISBN-13: 978-0669354720
This new volume in the Major Problems in American History series examines the history of technology in American from colonial times through the industrial age to the present. The collected essays and primary source of documents illuminate the social and cultural impact of all kinds of technology, including the factory system, the telephone, and insecticides, on everyday American life.
In addition to treating well-known topics - the origin of mass production, the rise of modern management, and the emergence of large technological systems - this volume highlights such themes as colonialization, Native American technology, slavery, gender, the role of the military in technological change, toys and play and feminism and environmentalism.
Major Problems in the History of American Technology contains thirteen chapters addressing different themes. Each is accompanied by an introduction that identifies the problem, places it in its larger context, and poses several questions to think about while reading the documents and essays.
Earthquake Nation The Cultural Politics of Japanese Seismicity, 1868-1930 (winner of 2007 Sidney Edelstein Prize)
Author: Gregory Clancey
Publisher: University of California Press
Year Published: 2006
ISBN-10: 0520246071 (Cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0520246072 (Cloth)
Accelerating seismic activity in late Meiji Japan climaxed in the legendary Great Nobi Earthquake of 1891, which rocked the main island from Tokyo to Osaka, killing thousands. Ironically, the earthquake brought down many "modern" structures built on the advice of foreign architects and engineers, while leaving certain traditional, wooden ones standing. This book, the first English-language history of modern Japanese earthquakes and earthquake science, considers the cultural and political ramifications of this and other catastrophic events on Japan's relationship with the West, with modern science, and with itself. Gregory Clancey argues that seismicity was both the Achilles' heel of Japan's nation-building project--revealing the state's western-style infrastructure to be surprisingly fragile--and a new focus for nativizing discourses which credited traditional Japanese architecture with unique abilities to ride out seismic waves. Tracing his subject from the Meiji Restoration to the Great Kant Earthquake of 1923 (which destroyed Tokyo), Clancey shows earthquakes to have been a continual though mercurial agent in Japan's self-fashioning; a catastrophic undercurrent to Japanese modernity. This innovative and absorbing study not only moves earthquakes nearer the center of modern Japan change--both materially and symbolically--but shows how fundamentally Japan shaped the global art, science, and culture of natural disaster.
Brian Farrell
The Basis and Making of British Grand Strategy: Was There a Plan? (Book 1)
Author: Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
Year Published: 1988
ISBN-10: 0773483578
ISBN-13: 978-0773483576
Book 2 ISBN-10: 0773483594
This massive, two-volume study treats the central direction of global war as a problem in its own right, posing these questions: why did the British fight the war as they did from spring 1940? What impact did their direction have both on the war and the British global position? This study differs from the Official History series Grand Strategy by arguing that from summer 1940 British grand strategy was significantly revised, and conducted from that point along broad but distinct outlines laid down by consensus in a guiding concept. It makes new points regarding the relationship between Churchill and his Chiefs of Staff, the nature of the 'integrated' British-American war effort and economic mobilization, the role of Bomber Command in grand strategy, and British perceptions of a 'Second Front' in Europe.
Sixty Years On: The Fall of Singapore Revisited (2nd Edition)
Editors: Brian Farrell, Sandy Hunter
Publisher: Eastern Universities Press
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 9812102027
ISBN-13: 978-9812102027
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the fall of Singapore during the Second World War, the Department of History at the National University of Singapore organized an international conference of historians, students and war veterans on the theme "Sixty Years On: The Fall of Singapore Revisited".
This book presents a selection of the papers presented at the conference, revised for publication. It is not meant to the last word on all aspects relating to the Malayan campaign and the fall of Singapore but aims to provide a well-rounded, state of the art discussion of the central issues, and some of the shadows, relating to the fall of Singapore.
Sixty Years On The Fall of Singapore Revisited (Second Edition)
Editors: Brian Farrell, Sandy Hunter
Publisher: Eastern Universities Press
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 9812102027
ISBN-13: 9789812102027
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the fall of Singapore during the Second World War, the Department of History at the National University of Singapore organised an international conference of historians, students and war veterans on the theme "Sixty Years On: The Fall of Singapore Revisited".
This book presents a selection of the papers presented at the conference, revised for publication. It is not meant to be the last word on all aspects relating to the Malayan campaign and the fall of Singapore but aims to provide a well-rounded, state of the art discussion of the central issues, and some of the shadows, relating to the fall of Singapore.
Leadership and Responsibility in the Second World War
Editor: Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press
Year Published: 2004
ISBN-10: 0773527311
ISBN-13: 978-0773527317
This book explores how political, diplomatic and military leaders, particularly in Great Britain, handled the daunting challenge of a worldwide conflagration. Contributors focus on the connection between reluctance to shoulder responsibility and failure to produce results. This collection challenges widely accepted views on major war-time controversies such as the role of Neville Chamberlain and his Conservative Party at the outbreak of the war, the reasons the British failed to reach and alliance with the Soviet Union in 1939, and the motives that drove Claus con Stauffenberg to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Between Two Oceans: A Military History of Singapore From First Settlement to Final British Withdrawal (2nd Edition)
Authors: Malcolm H. Murfett, John N. Miksic, Brian P. Farrell, Chiang Ming Shun
Publisher: Eastern Universities Press
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 9812103767
ISBN-13: 978-9812103765
Many books have been written about Singapore's much vaunted position as a crucial maritime centre along the East-West trading route but one aspect of its history-the military perspective-has, for the most part, escaped serious scholarly attention.
Between Two Oceans aims to plug this historical gap. Drawing on an impressive range of archaeological and historical sources gleaned from research and documents in Britain, India, Singapore, United States and Australia, the book traces the geo-strategic development of Singapore from its first settlement in the thirteenth century through the turbulent phases of the Early Modern period to the dramatic military episodes that have been such a distinctive feature of the twentieth century.
In presenting a balanced view of this momentous story, the authors have sought to dispel many of the myths about Singapore's military history that have grown up in the past and are now assumed to be factually correct. Between Two Oceans breaks new ground in revealing the difference between fact and fiction in Singapore's fascinating military past.
A Great Betrayal: The Fall of Singapore Revisited
Authors: Brain P. Farrell, Sandy Hunter
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 981427626X
ISBN-13: 978-9814276269
Across 15 chapters, professors of history and military history experts present their analyses and impressions about the Fall of Singapore in 1942, which was even described by Winston Churchill himself as "the greatest disaster in British military history". Discussed at length is the Malayan Campaign and the "Singapore Strategy", with problems and events related to the pre-war period as well as the conduct of the campaign itself.
Highlights include extensive discussions on the reasons for Japanese success and British failure as well as Ground Zero perspectives from Japanese soldiers fighting on the island and civilians facing evacuation. What follows is a more complete and comprehensive picture painted of this turbulent period in Singapore's history.
Between Two Oceans A Military History of Singapore from First Settlement to Final British Withdrawal (Second Edition)
Authors: Malcolm H. Murfett, John N. Miksic, Brian P. Farrell, Chiang Ming Shun
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Academic
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 9812102027
ISBN-13: 978-9812103765
Drawing on archaeological and historical sources gleaned from research and documents in Britain, India, Singapore, United States and Australia, the book traces the geo-strategic development of Singapore from its first settlement in the thirteenth century through the turbulent phases of the Early Modern period to the dramatic military episodes that have been such a distinctive feature of the twentieth century.
In presenting a balanced view of this momentous story, the authors have sought to dispel many of the myths about Singapore's military history that have grown up in the past and are now assumed to be factually correct. Between Two Oceans breaks new ground in revealing the difference between fact and fiction in Singapore's fascinating military past.
The Defence and Fall of Singapore 1940-1942
Author: Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: Tempus Publishing, Limited
Year Published: 2005
ISBN-10: 0752423118
ISBN-13: 978-0752423111
Winston Churchill gave lasting definition to the fall of Singapore in 1942 by calling it “the worst disaster” in British military history. But the fall of Singapore, heavy and humiliating defeat though it was, did not cost the Allies the war against Japan. In fact easy victory made the Japanese too confident, for which they paid an ultimate price. Churchill knew what he was talking about but he has long been misunderstood. The loss of Singapore was a painful military defeat. But the disaster to which Churchill referred was political. Losing Singapore so quickly and easily exploded all the arrangements the British made to defend the Empire in the Far East—and shattered the confidence their imperial partners had in those arrangements, and in British leadership in imperial defence. Japanese actions mattered, but were not decisive. The British Empire brought on political disaster by the way it planned, prepared for, and then fought a modern war against Japan. This book explains how and why.
Between Two Oceans: A Military History Of Singapore From 1275 To 1971 (2nd Revised Edition)
Authors: Malcolm H. Murfett, John N. Miksic, Brian P. Farrell, Chiang Ming Shun
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Academic
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10:9814302880
ISBN-13: 978-9814302883
Revised second 2011 edition of the 1999 respected study of Singapore's military history since the 13th century. Many archaeological and other resources have been used in the four authors' reference account of Singapore's military significance. Some widely received tales are show to be myths and a detailed relook is taken at some of the obscure and controversial events of World War II and its sequels. With notes and references, bibliography and index.
Churchill and the Lion City Shaping Modern Singapore
Editor: Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 9971695529
ISBN-13: 978-9971695521 (Paperback), 978-9971695651 (Hardback)
British imperialism profoundly influenced the development of the modern world order. This same imperialism created modern Singapore, shaping its colonial development, influencing its post-colonial reorientation. Winston Churchill was British imperialism's most significant 20th-century statesman. Churchill never visited Singapore, yet their two stories heavily influenced each other. Singapore became a symbol of British imperial power in Asia to Churchill, while Singaporeans later came to see him as symbolising that power. The fall of Singapore to Japanese conquest in 1942 was a low point in Churchill's war leadership, one he forever labelled by calling it "the worst disaster in British military history." It was also a tragedy for Singapore, ushering in three cruel years of occupation. But the interplay between these three historical forces - Churchill, empire, and Singapore - extended well beyond this most dramatic conjuncture. No single volume critically examines that longer interplay. This collection of essays does so by analysing Churchill's understanding of empire, his perceptions of Singapore and its imperial role, his direction of affairs regarding Singapore and the Empire, and his influence on the subsequent relationship between them.
新加坡历史原貌 : 1275-1971年
Authors: Malcolm H. Murfett, John N. Miksic, Brian P. Farrell, Chiang Ming Shun
Publisher: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 9812295909
ISBN-13: 978-9812295903
The book titled “Between Two Oceans: A Military History of Singapore From 1275 to 1971″, which gives a fresh perspective of Singapore’s history, has been translated into Chinese and was recently relaunched. Two faculty members from the Department of History, Assoc Prof Brian Farrell and Assoc Prof Malcolm Murfett, and Assoc Prof John Miksic from the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, were three of the authors involved in the book.
本书由四位历史学者在研究英国、美国、澳洲、新加坡和印度五国的档案与文献后写成，范围横跨1275到1971年，将近7个世纪。本书独特之处，是提出许多史实，揭穿了新加坡历史过去积累下来，很多人以为是事实的谬论（myth），从而尝试还原新加坡的真正历史。其中最有趣的，是对“莱佛士发现新加坡”这根深蒂固的说法，提出的一些新的见解。
Malaya: 1941-42 (Australian Army Campaigns Series) (Reprint Edition)
Authors: Brian Farrell, Garth Pratten
Publisher: Australian Army History Unit, Canberra, Australia; Big Sky Publishing
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0980567440
ISBN-13: 978-0980567441
When Imperial Japan unleashed the Pacific War in December 1941, Australian forces went into action, as part of a larger British Empire force, to defend Malaya and Singapore. This reflected an Australian commitment to defending Australia by protecting its ‘near north’. Unfortunately, Australian forces were compromised before they fired a shot by wider problems: the Allies were not ready for global war in late 1941, Australia lacked the forces to fill the gap in Southeast Asia, and all the Allied forces on the ground in Southeast Asia were unprepared for the high tempo manoeuvre warfare the Japanese threw at them. Australia’s principal contribution to defending Malaya and Singapore was the 8th Division. Originally raised for service in the Mediterranean, the division was committed piecemeal to Malaya and its performance was bedevilled by poor command decisions in the face of an enemy better prepared on all counts for the campaign at hand. The 8th Division, however, also reflected some strengths of the AIF at large: stubbornness in positional defence, effective and flexible small unit tactics and leadership, and skill and determination in close quarter combat. Malaya was lost more in spite than because of Australian efforts, but its loss underlined Australia’s strategic dependence on ‘great and powerful friends’ during the Second World War.
Empire in Asia, A New Global History, Volume 1: From Chinggisid to Qing
Editors: Jack Fairey, Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 1472596668
ISBN-13: 978-1472596666
Asia was the principle focus of empire-builders from Alexander and Akbar to Chinggis Khan and Qianlong and yet, until now, there has been no attempt to provide a comprehensive history of empire in the region. Empire in Asia addresses the need for a thorough survey of the topic.This volume traces the evolution of a constellation of competing empires in Asia from the 13th through to the 18th centuries. Separate chapters will describe the history and characteristic features of imperial regimes in each major sub-region of Asia, from the Ottomans and Safavids in the West, Romanovs in the North, Mughals in the South, the Mongols & their successors in Inner Asia, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the East. The contributors address common questions in considering the various empires, including:- How did imperial Asian states understand themselves and their place in the world?- How were these empires constructed and how did they attain such prominence?- To what extent did imperial repertoires of rule differ? The two volumes of Empire in Asia offer a significant contribution to the theory and practice of empire when considered globally and comparatively and are essential reading for all students and scholars of global, imperial and Asian history.
Empire in Asia, A New Global History, Volume 2: The Long Nineteenth Century
Editors: Donna Brunero, Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 1472596669
ISBN-13: 978-1472596666
Asia was the principle focus of empire-builders from Alexander and Akbar to Chinggis Khan and Qianlong and yet, until now, there has been no attempt to provide a comprehensive history of empire in the region. Empire in Asia addresses the need for a thorough survey of the topic. This volume covers the long 19th century, commonly seen in terms of ‘high imperialism’ and the global projection of Western power. This volume explores the dynamic, volatile and often contested processes by which, by the early years of the 20th century, Asian states, space and peoples became deeply integrated into the wider dynamics of global reordering. Drawing on case studies from across Asia, the contributors discuss key themes including ideology, concepts of identity, religion and politics, state building and state formation, the relationships between space, people, and sovereignty, the movements of goods, money, people and ideas, and the influence and impact of conflict and military power. The two volumes of Empire in Asia offer a significant contribution to the theory and practice of empire when considered globally and comparatively and are essential reading for all students and scholars of global, imperial and Asian history.
MISFIRE – British Empire Special Forces And Defeat In Malaya In World War II
Editors: Brian P. Farrell
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Year Published: 2025
ISBN-10: 978-0700-639960
ISBN-13: 978-0700-639953
In December 1941 the issue in the East during World War II was whether or not the Japanese could drive the Western Allies out of Southeast Asia before the Allies could reinforce strongly enough to prevent it. Consequently, the British Army organized, trained, and specifically equipped special-forces combat units to operate independently, for long periods of time if necessary, physically separated from the main forces in the field. British Army special-forces units were usually directed to carry out two broad but often closely related missions: provide direct assistance to main force operations; and harass enemy movements, lines of supply, and communications. Special forces were also frequently used to destroy specific targets, sometimes in completely independent operations with no main force in the field, and especially to act as the eyes and ears of the main force, gathering intelligence on enemy movements and or screening those of friendly forces.
In Misfire, Brian Farrell analyzes how and why the British Army developed special forces in the early years of World War II; what uses it made of them; and the role that special and irregular forces played in defending Malaya and Singapore against Japanese invasion, from prewar preparations to capitulation in February 1942. Farrell’s examination of the use of special and irregular forces helps us understand both the Malayan campaign and wider efforts to defend Southeast Asia as well as what that campaign tells us about the evolution of such forces in the British and Empire armies.
Men in the Middle? Shaping Great Power-China Relationships, 1842-1949
Editors: Brian P. Farrell and Charles J. Burgess
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Year Published: 21 Nov 2025
ISBN-10: 3111570509
ISBN-13: 978-3111570501
There is no time period or theme that promotes more engagement, by both Chinese historians and historians of China, than what the Peoples Republic of China describes as "the century of humiliation," the period of the "unequal treaties," in which first Qing and then Republican China found themselves penetrated systematically by external Great Powers – which then integrated China, on terms largely not of its own choosing, into a now global political economic order. This created the modern "China Question": how would an emerging China fit into a new world order that it entered through the intercessions of others? But there is at least one very important dimension that remains underexplored: the perceptions, policies, views, and agendas of the "metropolitan authorities" among the external Great Powers. This book will argue that it is enlightening to examine a particular kind of individual involved: one who worked in China, either as a sojourner or for a career, and, while in China, had a direct responsibility that moved in two directions: having to answer up to some sort of higher authority or body in their "home country," while also exercising direct responsibilities in China, including daily contact with the Chinese population.
Ian Gordon
Hugo Grotius "Commentarius in Theses XI": An Early Treatise on Sovereignty, the Just War, and the Legitimacy of the Dutch Revolt
Editors: Matthew P. McAllister, Edward H. Sewell, Jr., Ian Gordon
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing
Year Published: 2001
ISBN-10: 0820452491
ISBN-13: 978-0820452494
Superman's role in romanticizing commercialism; sexual violence in Japanese manga comics; Wonder Woman as Americanized immigrant; reader's reactions to the gay superhero Northstar; Dilbert as a workplace revolutionary; the Punisher's invasion of Vietnam - these are a few of the issues that Comics & Ideology addresses. Focusing on the intersection of social power and comic art, essays in this book explore how images and narratives in comic books and comic strips may portray social groups and social issues. As a scholarly examination of a form known as "the funnies" or "funny books", this book argues that the themes and characterizations in comic art are often quite serious. Essays take diverse theoretical perspectives such as cultural studies, political economy, feminist criticism, queer studies, and mythic analysis, all focusing on the relationship of comics to issues of social division.
COMIC STRIPS AND CONSUMER CULTURE, 1890-1945
Author: Ian Gordon
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press
Year Published: 1998
ISBN-10: 1560988568
ISBN-13: 978-1560988564
First Buster Brown was licensed to sell shoes and other goods; by the 1930s comic-strip characters were being transformed into dolls and other toys, and comic-strip-style ads were touting a vast array of products, from Grape-Nuts cereal to Rinso detergent. In addition to branding a wide variety of goods with personalities, the comics themselves increasingly promoted consumerist values and upward mobility. In this perceptive study, Ian Gordon explores how comic strips contributed to the expansion of a mass consumer culture that was increasingly driven by visual images. He details how "Gasoline Alley" advocated the pleasures of the automobile and how 1920's working girl Winnie Winkle became determined to achieve a middle-class lifestyle. The invention of the comic book in the 1940s also produced a super-licensed Superman, whose girlfriend Lois Lane even went on a shopping spree during a period of wartime rationing.
Comic strips emerged just as Americans were beginning to define themselves less by what they made and believed and more by what they bought. Gordon shows that the most enduring role of the strips has been not only to mirror a burgeoning consumer culture but also to actively promote it.
Film and Comic Books
Editors: Ian Gordon, Mark Jancovich, Matthew P. McAllister
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Year Published: 2007
ISBN-10: 1578069785
ISBN-13: 978-1578069774
Essays that explore how comic books inspire film and create new realms of visual art. In Film and Comic Books contributors analyze the problems of adapting one medium to another; the translation of comics aesthetics into film; audience expectations, reception, and reaction to comic book-based films; and the adaptation of films into comics. A wide range of comic/film adaptations are explored, including superheroes (Spider-Man), comic strips (Dick Tracy), realist and autobiographical comics (American Splendor, Ghost World), photo-montage comics (Mexico's El Santo), and the legendary figure of Hang Tuah. Essayists discuss films beginning with the 1978 Superman. That success led filmmakers to adapt a multitude of comic books for the screen including Marvel's Uncanny X-Men, the Amazing Spider-Man, Blade, and the Incredible Hulk as well as alternative graphic novels such as From Hell, V for Vendetta, and Road to Perdition. Essayists also discuss recent works from Mexico, France, and Germany.
Kid Comic Strips
Author: Ian Gordon
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US
Year Published: 2016
ISBN-10: 1137561971
ISBN-13: 978-1137561978
This book looks at the humor that artists and editors believed would have appeal in four different countries. Ian Gordon explains how similar humor played out in comic strips across different cultures and humor styles. By examining Skippy and Ginger Meggs, the book shows a good deal of similarities between American and Australian humor while establishing some distinct differences. In examining the French translation of Perry Winkle, the book explores questions of language and culture. By shifting focus to a later period and looking at the American and British comics entitled Dennis the Menace, two very different comics bearing the same name, Kid Comic Strips details both differences in culture and traditions and the importance of the type of reader imagined by the artist.
Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon
Author: Ian Gordon
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Year Published: 2017
ISBN-10: 0813587514
ISBN-13: 978-0813587516
After debuting in 1938, Superman soon became an American icon. But why has he maintained his iconic status for nearly 80 years? And how can he still be an American icon when the country itself has undergone so much change?
Superman: Persistence of an American Icon examines the many iterations of the character in comic books, comic strips, radio series, movie serials, feature films, television shows, animation, toys, and collectibles over the past eight decades. Demonstrating how Superman’s iconic popularity cannot be attributed to any single creator or text, comics expert Ian Gordon embarks on a deeper consideration of cultural mythmaking as a collective and dynamic process. He also outlines the often contentious relationships between the various parties who have contributed to the Superman mythos, including corporate executives, comics writers, artists, nostalgic commentators, and collectors.
Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of Superman’s appearances in comics and other media, Gordon also digs into comics archives to reveal the prominent role that fans have played in remembering, interpreting, and reimagining Superman’s iconography. Gordon considers how comics, film, and TV producers have taken advantage of fan engagement and nostalgia when selling Superman products. Investigating a character who is equally an icon of American culture, fan culture, and consumer culture, Superman thus offers a provocative analysis of mythmaking in the modern era.
The Comics of Charles Schulz: The Good Grief of Modern Life
Editors: Jared Gardner, Ian Gordon
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Year Published: 2017
ISBN-10: Gardner
ISBN-13: 978-1496812896
The Comics of Charles Schulz collects new essays on the work of the creator of the immensely popular Peanuts comic strip. Despite Schulz’s celebrity, few scholarly books on his work and career have been published. This collection serves as a foundation for future study not only of Charles Schulz (1922–2000) but, more broadly, of the understudied medium of newspaper comics.
Schulz’s Peanuts ran for a half century, during which time he drew the strip and its characters to express keen observations on postwar American life and culture. As Peanuts’ popularity grew, Schulz had opportunities to shape the iconography, style, and philosophy of modern life in ways he never could have imagined when he began the strip in 1950. Edited by leading scholars Jared Gardner and Ian Gordon, this volume ranges over a spectrum of Schulz’s accomplishments and influence, touching on everything from cartoon aesthetics to the marketing of global fast food. Philosophy, ethics, and cultural history all come into play. Indeed, the book even highlights Snoopy’s global reach as American soft power.
As the broad interdisciplinary range of this volume makes clear, Peanuts offers countless possibilities for study and analysis. From many perspectives―including childhood studies, ethnic studies, health and exercise studies, as well as sociology―The Comics of Charles Schulz offers the most comprehensive and diverse study of the most influential cartoonist during the second half of the twentieth century.
Ben Katchor: Conversations
Editor: Ian Gordon
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 1496815815
ISBN-13: 978-1496815811
Ben Katchor: Conversations it is a collection of interviews with Ben Katchor. Michael Chabon described Ben Katchor (b. 1951) as "the creator of the last great American comic strip." Katchor's comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, which began in 1988, brought him to the attention of the readers of alternative weekly newspapers along with a coterie of artists who have gone on to public acclaim. In the mid-1990s, NPR ran audio versions of several Julius Knipl stories, narrated by Katchor and starring Jerry Stiller in the title role. In addition to being a dramatist, Katchor has been the subject of profiles in the New Yorker, a recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a fellow at both the American Academy in Berlin and the New York Public Library. Katchor's work shows a concern with the past, an interest in the intersection of Jewish identity and a secular commercial culture, and the limits and possibilities of urban life.
The Superhero Symbol
Editors: Liam Burke, Ian Gordon, Angela Ndalianis
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Year Published: 2019
ISBN-10: 081359717X
ISBN-13: 978-0813597171
“As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but as a symbol... as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting”. In the 2005 reboot of the Batman film franchise, Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne articulates how the figure of the superhero can serve as a transcendent icon.
It is hard to imagine a time when superheroes have been more pervasive in our culture. Today, superheroes are intellectual property jealously guarded by media conglomerates, icons co-opted by grassroots groups as a four-color rebuttal to social inequities, masks people wear to more confidently walk convention floors and city streets, and bulletproof banners that embody regional and national identities. From activism to cosplay, this collection unmasks the symbolic function of superheroes.
Bringing together superhero scholars from a range of disciplines, alongside key industry figures such as Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini, The Superhero Symbol provides fresh perspectives on how characters like Captain America, Iron Man, and Wonder Woman have engaged with media, culture, and politics, to become the “everlasting” symbols to which a young Bruce Wayne once aspired.
Masako Hattori
The Age of Youth
Author: Masako Hattori
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year Published: 2025
Online ISBN: 9781009303323
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009303323
The Age of Youth tackles the complicated relationship between youth, national security, and education from World War I to World War II. It reveals how the United States created a time-specific political and social category of youth that relied on the expectation that military-age men should devote themselves to the future of their country. Analyzing policies from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, the New Deal, wartime military training programs, and those governing the post-World War II occupation of Japan, Masako Hattori demonstrates that the priorities of national security conditioned young people's access to education in the US in the first half of the twentieth century, in both wartime and peacetime, and explores how the evolving link between youth, education, and national security shaped and reshaped the cultural concept of “youth” in American society.
Priya Jaradi
Fashioning a National Art: Baroda’s Royal Collection and Art Institutions (1875-1924)
Author: Priya Maholay-Jaradi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year Published: 2016
ISBN-10: 019946684X
ISBN-13: 978-0199466849
Head of State and royal collector, Sayajirao Gaekwad III (r. 1875-1939) is proposed here as a forward-thinking and nationally committed representative at international exhibitions and one who promoted Baroda’s profile as a modern centre for the arts and crafts. Taking rare archival records from 1877 as its point of departure, the book demonstrates how the Maharaja’s private collecting practice and its egalitarian ideas shaped Baroda’s modern art and craft institutions and industries. Utilizing international channels of exhibitions, catalogues and sales, the Maharaja and his close coterie drew on pan-Indian and Euro-American artistic domains as much as they contributed to their experiments and concerns. For the first time, a native prince emerges simultaneously as an exemplar of international collecting, a global tastemaker, and a spokesperson and strategist for a colonized India’s national concerns. Thus Baroda’s archive is revealed and re-told as a story of collecting, modernity, nationalism and cosmopolitanism.
The book sheds light on numerous elite and subaltern plots: the role of Dewan T. Madhavarao and other state officials as resource persons and advisors; a significant oil portraitist Tiroovengada Naidu, who precedes Raja Ravi Varma at Baroda; European painters and sculptors who at the Baroda court; ivory craftsman, Neelakandan Asari of Travancore; establishment of Baroda’s premier polytechnic, Kalabhavan and the Nazarpaga and State Furniture Works; “star pieces” on the exhibitions’ trail such as the Baroda Screen and Baroda Balcony, select luxury goods inspired by Baroda designs and exhaustive loans’ inventories for exhibitions.
Framed within an interdisciplinary enquiry relevant to art history, museum studies, cultural theory, and anthropology, the narrative brings to the fore themes such as collection studies, nationalism, modernity, capital, exhibition, cosmopolitanism, provenance research, high art, craft and design.
Baroda: A Cosmopolitan Provenance in Transition
Editor: Priya Maholay-Jaradi
Publisher: Marg Publications
Year Published: 2015
ISBN-10: 9383243082
ISBN-13: 978-9383243082
As the writers approach Baroda from different vantage points, they render its story in unique ways: as first-person accounts, and as art critics, anthropologists and historians. Early artists, craftsmen and photographers engage with Sayajirao Gaekwad III; the royal patron in turn represents these practitioners at international exhibitions; itinerant builders and established European architects contribute to a fast-modernizing princely state; artists, art teachers and administrators set new directions for a Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) in post-Independence Baroda/India; patrons, gallerists, scholars and artists shape contemporary Baroda's artistic culture.
Parsi Portraits from the Studio of Raja Ravi Varma
Author: Priya Maholay-Jaradi
Publisher: The K. R. Cama Oriental Institute
Year Published: 2011
Daniel Jew
M. I. Finley: An Ancient Historian and his Impact
Editors: Daniel Jew, Robin Osborne, Michael Scott
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year Published: Jan 2020
ISBN-10: 1316603539
ISBN-13: 978-1316603536
M. I. Finley (1912–86) was the most famous ancient historian of his generation. He was admired by his peers, and was Professor of Ancient History at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of the British Academy. His unmistakable voice was familiar to tens of thousands of radio listeners, his polemical reviews and other journalism were found all over the broadsheets and weeklies, and his scholarly as well as his popular works sold in very large numbers as Penguin paperbacks. Yet this was also a man dismissed from his job at Rutgers University when he refused to answer the question of whether he was or had ever been a member of the Communist Party. This pioneering volume assesses Finley's achievements and analyses the nature of the impact of this charismatic individual and the means by which he changed the world of ancient history.
The Uncertain Past: Probability in Ancient History
Editors: Daniel Jew, Myles Lavan, Bart Danon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year Published: 1 Dec 2022
ISBN-10: 1009100653
ISBN-13: 978-1009100656
Historians constantly wrestle with uncertainty, never more so than when attempting quantification, yet the field has given little attention to the nature of uncertainty and strategies for managing it. This volume proposes a powerful new approach to uncertainty in ancient history, drawing on techniques widely used in the social and natural sciences. It shows how probability-based techniques used to manage uncertainty about the future or the present can be applied to uncertainty about the past. A substantial introduction explains the use of probability to represent uncertainty. The chapters that follow showcase how the technique can offer leverage on a wide range of problems in ancient history, from the incidence of expropriation in the Classical Greek world to the money supply of the Roman empire.
Medha Malik Kudaisya
The Life and Times of G. D. Birla
Author: Medha M. Kudaisya
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 0195645723
ISBN-13: 978-0195645729
Kudaisya's biography explores all the aspects of this legendary figure. Elegantly written, it reconstructs Birla's eventful public and private life drawing upon the rich historical evidence available in his private papers. Kudaisya was the first scholar to have unrestricted access to these papers. This book is not simply a story of onr of the greatest Indians of our times, but also provides a window on the transformation which India has witnessed during the twentieth century. It shows how Birla's life was marked by a complex interplay of profit, power and piety.
Chinese and Indian Business: Historical Antecedents
Editors: Medha Kudaisya, Ng Chin-Keong
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
Year Published: 2009
ISBN-10: 9004172793
ISBN-13: 978-9004172791
In recent years the phenomenal rise of the economies of China and India has led to a proliferation of academic studies. Much of the focus has been on economic performance, development strategies and the comparative advantage of the two economies. A comparative study of business as an agent of change has been lacking This volume brings together articles by leading scholars in the field of Chinese and Indian business who offer fresh perspectives on the historical antecedents of business in the two economies.
The Oxford India Anthology of Business History
Editor: Medha M. Kudaisya
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 0198070195
ISBN-13: 978-0198070191
This anthology analyses the role played by Indian business in the making of modern India. It takes up critical strands within Indian business history and highlights the tremendous diversity of forms, ethnic and regional affiliations, cultural practices, strategies, and types of organization which characterize Indian business. In doing so, it gives 'voice' to Indian business as an agent of change embedded within larger historical processes in the twentieth century.
The anthology brings together for the first time critical texts relating to several major themes in Indian business history. It includes not just academic texts but also letters, speeches, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, community publications, commercial newspapers, records of trading organizations and chambers of commerce, and government sources. The objective is to highlight themes, personalities, dimensions, events, and processes which illustrate the history of Indian business and which reflect debates that are alive and pertinent.
Tryst With Prosperity: Indian Business and the Bombay Plan of 1944
Author: Medha M.Kudaisya
Publisher: Penguin Portfolio
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 0143445936
ISBN-13: 978-0143445937
The Tryst with Prosperity is the story of the Bombay Plan which was initiated in 1944. Eight remarkable individuals from the world of industry, like J.R.D. Tata, Lala Shri Ram and G.D. Birla, came together and drafted this plan.
The Bombay Plan, an economic blueprint, promised to double India's per capita income in fifteen years; envisaged a 130 per cent rise in agriculture output; a 500 per cent increase in manufacturing; and a minimum standard of living for every individual. This plan held out the promise of partnership between the Indian state and private enterprise. Yet, ironically, a decade later, these captains of industry fell out with the Nehruvian establishment. Nonetheless, the indelible imprint of the Bombay Plan was manifest in the national Five Year Plans and in the economic trajectory of India.
Seventy-five years later, the Bombay Plan's legacy continues to be unmistakable in the economic life of contemporary India. Rivetingly told, business historian Medha M. Kudaisya, narrates an important chapter from the story of Indian business.
Kung Chien Wen
Diasporic Cold Warriors: Nationalist China, Anticommunism, and the Philippine Chinese, 1930s-1970s
Author: Kung Chien Wen
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Year Published: 2022
ISBN-10: 1501762214
ISBN-13: 9781501762215
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Philippine Chinese were Southeast Asia's most exemplary Cold Warriors among overseas Chinese. During these decades, no Chinese community in the region was more vigilant in identifying and rooting out suspected communists from within its midst; none was as committed to mobilizing against the People's Republic of China as the one in the former US colony. Ironically, for all the fears of overseas Chinese communities' ties to the PRC at the time, the example of the Philippines shows that the "China" that intervened the most extensively in any Southeast Asian Chinese society during the Cold War was the Republic of China on Taiwan.
For the first time, Kung tells the story of the Philippine Chinese as pro-Taiwan, anticommunist partisans, tracing their evolving relationship with the KMT and successive Philippine governments over the mid-twentieth century. Throughout, he argues for a networked and transnational understanding of the ROC-KMT party-state and demonstrates that Taipei exercised a form of nonterritorial sovereignty over the Philippine Chinese with Manila's participation and consent. Challenging depoliticized narratives of cultural integration, he also contends that, because of the KMT, Chinese identity formation and practices of belonging in the Philippines were deeply infused with Cold War ideology.
Drawing on archival research and fieldwork in Taiwan, the Philippines, the United States, and China, Diasporic Cold Warriors reimagines the histories of the ROC, the KMT, and the Philippine Chinese, connecting them to the broader canvas of the Cold War and postcolonial nation-building in East and Southeast Asia.
Kwa Chong Guan
Singapore, A 700-Year History: From Early Emporium to World City
Authors: Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: National Archives Singapore
Year Published: 2009
ISBN-10: 9810830505
ISBN-13: 978-9810830502
This book is different from other books on Singapore history in its long sighted view of Singapore’s past. Where all other books start Singapore’s history with Sir Stamford Raffles’ arrival in 1819, this book argues that Singapore’s history started 500 years earlier, with the arrival of Seri Teri Buana from Palembang and his sighting of a Lion on this island. The book attempts a reinterpretation of that event, which has been dismissed as a myth, within the context of the archaeological evidence recovered since 1984 from excavations on and around Fort Canning. The archaeological evidence now confirms the existence of an early Emporium on Singapore in the 14th century which the book argues owed its prosperity to an earlier cycle of globalized trade underpinned by a Chinese market under the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Singapore, this book contends, was not a “sleepy fishing village” prior to Raffles’ arrival, but a thriving harbour and port under the Johor-Riau sultanate. The book reconstructs Raffles’ arrival at Singapore and all that followed in the long cycles of the maritime history of the Melaka Straits. The book situates Singapore’s current concerns about its status as a Global City in the current post-Cold War cycle of globalization in the larger and longer cycles of earlier globalization with the intent of providing a corrective perspective to the myopic view of Singapore after 1965.
Studying Singapore Before 1800
Editors: Kwa Chong Guan, Peter Borschberg
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2018
ISBN-10: 981472274X
ISBN-13: 9789814722742
Historians rely on Singapore’s strategic position to explain its great success as a royal trading port in the 14th century, and as a British colony after 1819. What, then, accounts for the many centuries when it seemed not to thrive, and was seen in the words of John Crawfurd as “only the occasional resort of pirates”? This seeming paradox sits uneasily at the heart of Singapore historiography, and over time historians have suggested a variety of ways to resolve it.
This volume collects studies about Singapore before 1800, bringing together different efforts across the 20th century at reconstructing Singapore’s “missing years”. Some authors have found additional details by scouring ancient and early modern texts for references to Singapore, and by reading well-known classics such as the Sejarah Melayu against the grain. Others have built narratives that bridge pre- and post-1800 perspectives by positioning Singapore within long-term global history.
These efforts have yielded a much richer understanding of Singapore’s changing fortunes before 1800. The articles collected in this volume represent key milestones in this effort. Many are hard to locate, and two pieces are translated from Dutch to English for the first time. They are presented here with an introduction from historian Kwa Chong Guan.
Sejarah Lisan Di Asia Tenggara: Teori Dan Metode
Editors: P. Lim Pui Huen, James H. Morrison, Kwa Chong Guan
Publisher: Pustaka LP3ES
Year Published: 2000
ISBN-10: 979839187X
Sejarah Lisan adalah suatu cara untuk merekam masa silam, melalui wawancara. Ada banyak aktivitas sejarah lisan di Asia Tenggara sejak 1960-an, baik di tingkat kelembagaan maupun di tingkat individu. Buku ini memuat sejumlah artikel yang berkaitan dengan isu-isu teoretis, metodologis, dan praktis dalam sejarah lisan dan problem-problem unik dalam konteks Asia Tenggara. Para penulis buku ini adalah akademisi dan praktisi yang ahli dan berpengalaman di bidang-bidang antropologi, sejarah, sosiologi, penerbitan dan administrasi arsip.
Early Southeast Asia Viewed from India: An Anthology of Articles from the Journal of the Greater India Society
Editor: Kwa Chong Guan
Publisher: Manohar Publishers
Year Published: 2013
ISBN-10: 9350980177
ISBN-13: 978-9350980170
“The present anthology of selected articles from the eighteen volumes of the Journal of the Greater India Society is a long overdue publication. The comprehensive Foreword and Introduction by its editor Kwa Chong-Guan provide an excellent critical analysis of the aims and history of the Greater India Society, inaugurated at Calcutta in 1926, and of its journal, published from 1936 to 1959. While the JGIS has been criticized for having also become an organ of Indian nationalist attempts at the height of the Indian independence movement, it contained a considerable number of historiographically still relevant articles, such as those by D.C. Sircar and H.B. Sarkar. It also constitutes, as rightly pointed out by the Editor, an important historical document “of India’s understanding of its historical destiny as it once again ‘Look East’.”
Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore
Authors: Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International
Year Published: 2020
ISBN-10: 9814828106
ISBN-13: 978-9814828109
Assessments of Singapore's history invariably revolve around Sir Stamford Raffles' arrival in 1819. Before this date - we've been told - "nothing very much appears to have happened in Singapore". Pre-1819 Singapore was a sleepy, historically insignificant fishing village, little more than the "occasional resort of pirates".
This ambitious book, co-written by four of Singapore's foremost historians, offers an assertive re-evaluation of that view, firmly situating Singapore's starting point seven hundred years ago. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary range of archival, textual and cartographical records, as well as the latest archaeological discoveries, the authors cast a singular historical trajectory for Singapore over the past seven centuries, animating its history like never before.
Written in a compelling and accessible manner, and richly illustrated with more than 200 artefacts, photographs, maps, art works and ephemera, this volume builds upon the foundations of an earlier book, Singapore: A 700-Year History. Extensively rewritten to incorporate ground-breaking research findings, Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore widens the historical lens and offers a vital new perspective on the story of Singapore.
Albert Lau
The Malayan Union Controversy 1942-1948: South-East Asian Historical Monographs
Author: Albert Lau
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year Published: 1991
ASIN: 0195889649
ISBN-10: 195-889649
ISBN-13: 978-0195889642
The Second World War set Malaya upon a new course and forced British planners to rationalize the structural anomalies that had kept Malaya constitutionally disunited and racially divided. The revolutionary plan unveiled was the Malayan Union which sought to embrace the Malay states and the Straits Settlements, excluding Singapore, under a constitutional union, and to confer, for the first time, political rights on Malaya's non-Malay population through the creation of common citizenship. This sudden abandonment of the old principles that had governed Anglo-Malay relations since 1874 - the sovereignty of the Malay rulers, the autonomy of the Malay states, and the notion that Malaya was primarily a Malay country - provoked an impassioned constitutional controversy which threatened to undermine the very basis of British rule in Malaya and forced the British, barely three months later, to scrap their experiment. A negotiated settlement resulted in its replacement by the Federation of Malaya in February 1948.
Drawing on the widest range of primary sources used to date, this book goes beyond other studies to unravel the inside story of why and how the Malayan Union scheme was formulated and implemented, and why it was forcibly scuttled.
A Moment of Anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement
Author: Albert Lau
Publisher: Times Media Academic Publishing Division
Year Published: 1998
ISBN-10: 981-2101349
ISBN-13: 978-9812101341
The years 1963 to 1965 mark one of the most tumultuous periods in Singapore's history encapsulating the country's struggle for independence, first through merger with Malaysia and finally the separation from Malaysia when Singapore assumed complete independence as a republic. This book captures the dramatic events leading up to that separation. It goes beyond other studies to unravel the hidden story behind this traumatic and controversial episode in Singapore's history. Unpublished sources come together to recreate key events such as the "snap" elections in 1963, the controversial participation of the PAP in the Federal elections of 1964, the two race riots, the formation of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention and the secret negotiations for disengagement.
A New History of Southeast Asia
Authors: M.C. Ricklefs, Bruce Lockhart, Albert Lau, Portia Reyes, Maitrii Aung-Thwin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0230212131
ISBN-13: 978-0230212138
A new, comprehensive, one volume history of Southeast Asia that spans prehistory to the present. Ricklefs brings together colleagues at the National University of Singapore whose expertise covers the entire region, encompassing political, social, economic, religious and cultural history.
Opening with an account of the ethnic groups and initial cultural and social structures of Southeast Asia, the book moves through the early 'classical' states, the arrival of new global religions and the impact of non-indigenous actors. The history of early modern states and their colonial successors is followed by analysis of World War II across the region, Offering a definitive account of decolonisation and early post-colonial nation-building, the text then transports us to modern-day Southeast Asia, exploring its place in a world recovering from the financial crisis.
The distinguished author team provide an authoritative and accessible narrative, drawing upon the latest research and offering detailed guidance on further reading. A landmark contribution to the field, this is an essential text for scholars, students and anyone interested in Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia and the Cold War
Author: Albert Lau
Publisher: Routledge
Year Published: 2012
ISBN-10: 0415684501
ISBN-13: 978-0415684507
The origins and the key defining moments of the Cold War in Southeast Asia have been widely debated. This book focuses on an area that has received less attention, the impact and legacy of the Cold War on the various countries in the region, as well as on the region itself.
The book contributes to the historiography of the Cold War in Southeast Asia by examining not only how the conflict shaped the milieu in which national and regional change unfolded but also how the context influenced the course and tenor of the Cold War in the region. It goes on to look at the usefulness or limitations of using the Cold War as an interpretative framework for understanding change in Southeast Asia.
Chapters discuss how the Cold War had a varied but notable impact on the countries in Southeast Asia, not only on the mainland countries belonging to what the British Foreign Office called the "upper arc", but also on those situated on its maritime "lower arc". The book is an important contribution to the fields of Asian Studies and International Relations.
Lee Seung-Joon
Gourmets in the Land of Famine
Author: Seung-Joon Lee
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 0804772266
ISBN-13: 978-0804772266
A study of the politics of rice in Canton, this book sheds new light on the local history of the city and illuminates how China's struggles with food shortages in the early twentieth century unfolded and the ways in which they were affected by the rise of nationalism and the fluctuation of global commerce.
Author Seung-joon Lee profiles Canton as an exemplary site of provisioning, a critical gateway for foreign rice importation and distribution through the Pearl River Delta, which found its prized import, and thus its food security, threatened by the rise of Chinese nationalism. Lee argues that the modern Chinese state's attempts to promote domestically-produced "national rice" and to tax rice imported through the transnational trade networks were doomed to failure, as a focus on rice production ignored the influential factor of rice quality. Indeed, China's domestic rice promotion program resulted in an unprecedented famine in Canton in 1936. This book contends that the ways in which the Guomindang government dealt with the issue of food security, and rice in particular, is best understood in the context of its preoccupation with science, technology, and progressivism, a departure from the conventional explanations that cite governmental incompetence.
Bruce Lockhart
The End of the Vietnamese Monarchy
Author: Bruce McFarland Lockhart
Publisher: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies
Year Published: 1993
ISBN-10: 093869250X
ISBN-13: 978-0938692508
The monarchy in colonial Vietnam became an instrument of French rule. Although this form of indirect rule was intended to strengthen colonial policy, ultimately the French misuse and neglect of the monarchy destroyed the institution and helped weaken moderate forces of Vietnamese nationalism.
Historical Dictionary of Vietnam (3rd Edition)
Authors: Bruce Lockhart, William J. Duiker
Publisher: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Year Published: 2006
ISBN-10: 0810850532
ISBN-13: 978-0810850538
Vietnam became part of French Indochina in 1887 and did not regain its independence again until after the Vietnam War. However, despite a relatively peaceful two decades the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies. In an effort to change this stagnation, Vietnamese authorities have committed to economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries.
The third edition of this dictionary focuses on the recent changes and leadership of Vietnam while giving due attention to the earlier kingdoms, the period of French Indochina, the wars for liberation, the Vietnam War, and much more. Hundreds of cross-referenced A to Z dictionary entries are included on political, economic, social and cultural aspects as well as the major cities and geographic features. This book also contains a chronology and introduction that traces Vietnam's history, as well as a bibliography.
A New History of Southeast Asia
Authors: M.C. Ricklefs, Bruce Lockhart, Albert Lau, Portia Reyes, Maitrii Aung-Thwin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0230212131
ISBN-13: 978-0230212138
A new, comprehensive, one volume history of Southeast Asia that spans prehistory to the present. Ricklefs brings together colleagues at the National University of Singapore whose expertise covers the entire region, encompassing political, social, economic, religious and cultural history.
Opening with an account of the ethnic groups and initial cultural and social structures of Southeast Asia, the book moves through the early 'classical' states, the arrival of new global religions and the impact of non-indigenous actors. The history of early modern states and their colonial successors is followed by analysis of World War II across the region, Offering a definitive account of decolonisation and early post-colonial nation-building, the text then transports us to modern-day Southeast Asia, exploring its place in a world recovering from the financial crisis.
The distinguished author team provide an authoritative and accessible narrative, drawing upon the latest research and offering detailed guidance on further reading. A landmark contribution to the field, this is an essential text for scholars, students and anyone interested in Southeast Asia.
The Cham of Vietnam: History, Society and Art
Editors: Tran Ky Phuong, Bruce M. Lockhart
Publisher: NUS Press
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 997169459X
ISBN-13: 978-9971694593
The Cham people once inhabited and ruled over a large stretch of what is now the central Vietnamese coast. The Indianized civilization of this Austronesian-speaking group flourished between roughly the third and fifteenth centuries, and they competed with the Vietnamese and Khmers for influence in mainland Southeast Asia, but the Cham territories eventually became part of modern Vietnam. Written by specialists in history, archaeology, anthropology, art history, and linguistics, the essays in The Cham of Vietnam contribute to a revisionist overview of Cham history by re-assessing the ways the Cham have been studied by different generations of scholars of what "Champa" has represented over the centuries of its history. Several chapters focus on archaeological work in central Vietnam and position recent discoveries within the broader framework of Cham history, but there are also discussions of Cham economy, society and culture.
Through this study of a people that did not become a nation-state, the book provides penetrating insights into the history of Vietnam and on the broader dynamic of Southeast Asian history.
Joey Long
Safe for Decolonization The Eisenhower Administration, Britain, and Singapore
Author: Joey Long
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Year Published: 2011
ISBN-10: 1606350862
ISBN-13: 978-1606350867
In the first decade after World War II, Singapore underwent radical political and socioeconomic changes with the progressive retreat of Great Britain from its Southeast Asian colonial empire. The United States, under the Eisenhower administration, sought to fill the vacuum left by the British retreat and launched into a campaign to shape the emerging Singapore nation-state in accordance with its Cold War policies. Based on a wide array of Chinese- and English-language archival sources from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United States, Safe for Decolonization examines in depth the initiatives—both covert and public—undertaken by the United States in late-colonial Singapore.
Apart from simply analyzing the effect of American activities on the politics of the island, author S. R. Joey Long also examines their impact on the relationship between Great Britain and the United States, and how the Anglo-American nuclear policy toward China and the establishment of a regional security institution (the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) affected the security and decolonization of a strategic British base.
Long sketches a highly detailed and nuanced account of the relations between the United States, Great Britain, and Singapore. He not only describes the often clumsy attempts by covert American operatives to sway top political leaders, infiltrate governments, influence labor unions, and shape elections, but he also shows how Eisenhower’s public initiatives proved to have far-reaching positive results and demonstrates that the Eisenhower administration’s policies toward Singapore, while not always well advised, nonetheless helped to lay the foundation for friendly Singapore–U.S. relations after 1960.
As the first multi-archival work on the U.S. intervention in Singapore, Safe for Decolonization makes an important contribution to the literature on Southeast Asia–U.S. relations. It will be of interest to specialists in decolonization, diplomatic history, modern Southeast Asian history, and the history of the early Cold War.
Hajimu Masuda
Cold War Crucible: The Korean Conflict and the Postwar World
Author: Masuda Hajimu
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Year Published: 2015
ISBN-10: 0674598474
ISBN-13: 978-0674598478
What, really, was the Cold War? Hostility was in the air, but where was the battlefront? What made millions of people worldwide willingly embrace the existence of an invisible war?
Cold War Crucible is an inquiry into this peculiar nature of the Cold War. It examines not only centers of policymaking, but seeming aftereffects of Cold War politics: social suppressions across the world during the Korean War: suppression of counterrevolutionaries in China, the White Terror in Taiwan, the Red Purge in Japan, and McCarthyism in the United States.
Such purges were not merely end results of the Cold War, Masuda Hajimu shows, but forces that drove Cold War reality in attempts at restoring tranquility at home. Revealing social construction and popular participation, Cold War Crucible elucidates how a mere discourse turned into an irrefutable reality, how and why ordinary people shaped such a Cold War world, and what the Cold War really was.
Examining historical experiences of the Cold War, it ultimately raises questions that are still relevant today: How and for whom are images of threats formed and circulated? How real are the rubrics used to understand global situations? Ultimately, what is reality?
Maurizio Peleggi
Lords of Things: the Fashioning of the Siamese Monarchy's Modern Image
Author: Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Year Published: 2002
ISBN-10: 0824825586 (Paperback), 0824824482 (Cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0824825584
Lords of Things offers a fascinating interpretation of modernity in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Siam by focusing on the novel material possessions and social practices adopted by the royal elite to refashion its self and public image in the early stages of globalization. It examines the westernized modes of consumption and self-presentation, the residential and representational architecture, and the public spectacles appropriated by the Bangkok court not as byproducts of institutional reformation initiated by modernizing sovereigns, but as practices and objects constitutive of the very identity of the royalty as a civilized and civilizing class.
Bringing a wealth of new source material into a theoretically informed discussion, Lords of Things will be required reading for historians of Thailand and Southeast Asia scholars generally. It represents a welcome change from previous studies of Siamese modernization that are almost exclusively concerned with the institutional and economic dimensions of the process or with foreign relations, and will appeal greatly to those interested in transnational cultural flows, the culture of colonialism, the invention of tradition, and the relationship between consumption and identity formation in the modern era.
Studies in Contemporary Thailand No. 10, The Politics of Ruins and the Business of Nostalgia
Author: Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher: White Lotus Press
Year Published: 2002
ISBN-10: 9747534959
ISBN-13: 978-9747534955
The Politics of Ruins and the Business of Nostalgia investigates the theory and practice of heritage conservation in Thailand, focusing in particular on the period from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. Although the trend towards historic preservation first appeared in Thailand at the end of the nineteenth century and was further promoted by the nationalist regime of the 1940s and the 1950s, it has become a major government undertaking since 1977, when the first historical parks projects were launched. Following the including of the ancient cities of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya and the archaeological site on Ban Chiang in the UNESCO World heritage List at the beginning of the 1990s, national pride and international awareness of Thailand's cultural heritage have increased considerably. The ongoing modernization of the country's landscape has made historic monuments and sites all the more important as markers of the Thai national and cultural identity.
This monograph questions the commonplace glorification of historic sites as tangible sites of the past glory of the Thai nation. The state-sponsored material and discursive practices that have led to the institutionalization of Thailand's national heritage are examined, along with their contestation by elements of civil society, vis-a-vis the process of political and social change. The book also analyses the commodification and consumption of heritage sites as tourist attractions in relation to the different patterns of domestic and internal tourism, as well as the linkage between the promotional narratives of tourism advertising and the official historical narrative of the Thai nation.
Eye of the Beholder: Reception, Audience, and the Practice of Modern Asian Art
Editors: John Clark, Maurizio Peleggi, T.K. Sabapathy
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Year Published: 2007
ISBN-10: 1876957107
ISBN-13: 978-1876957100
This book interrogates the relationship between different kinds of modern art and different kinds of cultural contexts in Asian and Pacific countries. The thirteen essays examines how the modern is formed by artists in relation to other traditions and practices ("Western" or "folk"), the audience and modern art institutions, and the burgeoning conceptions of the "national" as deployed by the post-colonial state. There are essays on the art codes of Maori folk designs applied to buildings, on academy painting in nineteenth-century Indonesia and the Philippines, on contemporary video and performance art from China, on Cambodian street signage, and on the Asia Pacific Triennale. The methodologies applied are broad, from anthropology and art history to cultural studies, and the perspectives include those of academics, curators, and new media theorists. "In the Eye of the Beholder" contributes a diverse understanding of where modern and contemporary Asian art is now situated.
Thailand: The Worldly Kingdom
Author: Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Year Published: 2007
ISBN-10: 1861893140 (Paperback); 1861894600 (Electronic)
ISBN-13: 978-1861893147 (Paperback); 978-1861894601 (Electronic)
Tourist brochures and travel guides depict Thailand as an exotic country with a rich cultural heritage, strong religious traditions, and a popular monarchy. Historians also contribute to Thailand’s international allure with chronicles of its unique historical and cultural continuity in comparison to the other southeast Asian countries, whose histories are stained by colonialism and nationalist struggles for independence.
Thailand challenges these stereotypes with a reinterpretation as well as an introduction to the emergence of Thailand as a nation-state. The book argues that the development of Thai nationhood was a long-term process shaped by interactions with the outside world, its pursuit of civilization, and, more recently, globalization. Maurizio Peleggi’s original account investigates, among other issues, the evolution of the geographical and linguistic landscapes, changes in class and gender relations, the role of institutions and ideologies, modern cultural expressions, social memory, and the conception of the Thai national self as contrasted against the racial and cultural Others of Burmese, Chinese and Westerners
A Sarong for Clio: Essays on the Intellectual and Cultural History of Thailand
Editor: Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher: Southeast Asia Program Publications
Year Published: 2015
ISBN-10: 0877277664
ISBN-13: 978-0877277668
A Sarong for Clio testifies to an ongoing intellectual dialogue between its ten contributors and Craig J. Reynolds, who inspired these essays. Conceived as a tribute to an innovative scholar, dedicated teacher, and generous colleague, it is this volume's ambition to make a concerted intervention on Thai historiography―and Thai studies more generally―by pursuing in new directions ideas that figure prominently in Reynolds's scholarship. The writings gathered here revolve around two prominent themes in Reynolds's scholarship: the nexus of historiography and power, and Thai political and business cultures―often so intertwined as to be difficult to separate. The chapters examine different types of historical texts, Thai political discourse and political culture, and the media production of consumer culture.
Monastery, Monument, Museum: Sites and Artifacts of Thai Cultural Memory
Author: Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Year Published: 2017
ISBN-10: 0824866061
ISBN-13: 978-0824866068
Ranging across the longue durée of Thailand’s history, Monastery, Monument, Museum is an eminently readable and original contribution to the study of the kingdom’s art and culture. Eschewing issues of dating, style, and iconography, historian Maurizio Peleggi addresses distinct types of artifacts and artworks as both the products and vehicles of cultural memory. From the temples of Chiangmai to the Emerald Buddha, from the National Museum of Bangkok to the prehistoric culture of Northeast Thailand, and from the civic monuments of the 1930s to the political artworks of the late twentieth century, even well-known artworks and monuments reveal new meanings when approached from this perspective.
Part I, “Sacred Geographies,” focuses on the premodern era, when religious credence informed the cultural alteration of landscape, and devotional sites and artifacts, including visual representation of the Buddhist cosmology, were created. Part II, “Antiquities, Museums, and National History,” covers the 1830s through the 1970s, when antiquarianism, and eventually archaeology, emerged and developed in the kingdom, partly the result of a shift in the elites’ worldview and partly a response to colonial and neocolonial projects of knowledge. Part III, “Discordant Mnemoscapes,” deals with civic monuments and artworks that anchor memory of twentieth-century political events and provide stages for both their commemoration and counter-commemoration by evoking the country’s embattled political present.
Monastery, Monument, Museum shows us how cultural memory represents a kind of palimpsest, the result of multiple inscriptions, reworkings, and manipulations over time. The book will be a rewarding read for historians, art historians, anthropologists, and Buddhism scholars working on Thailand and Southeast Asia generally, as well as for academic and general readers with an interest in memory and material culture.
Portia Reyes
A New History of Southeast Asia
Authors: M.C. Ricklefs, Bruce Lockhart, Albert Lau, Portia Reyes, Maitrii Aung-Thwin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0230212131
ISBN-13: 978-0230212138
A new, comprehensive, one volume history of Southeast Asia that spans prehistory to the present. Ricklefs brings together colleagues at the National University of Singapore whose expertise covers the entire region, encompassing political, social, economic, religious and cultural history.
Opening with an account of the ethnic groups and initial cultural and social structures of Southeast Asia, the book moves through the early 'classical' states, the arrival of new global religions and the impact of non-indigenous actors. The history of early modern states and their colonial successors is followed by analysis of World War II across the region, Offering a definitive account of decolonisation and early post-colonial nation-building, the text then transports us to modern-day Southeast Asia, exploring its place in a world recovering from the financial crisis.
The distinguished author team provide an authoritative and accessible narrative, drawing upon the latest research and offering detailed guidance on further reading. A landmark contribution to the field, this is an essential text for scholars, students and anyone interested in Southeast Asia.
Panahon at Pagsasalaysay ni Pedro Paterno, 1858-1911: Isang Pag-aaral sa Intelektuwalismo (The Times and Historiography of Pedro Paterno, 1858-1911: A Study on Intellectualism)
Author: Portia L. Reyes
Publisher: BAKAS, Inc. and VIBAL Publications, Inc.
Year Published: 2012
ISBN-10: 971875508X
ISBN-13: 978-9718755082
In Philippine historiography, Pedro Paterno unambiguously has been ridiculed as the traitor of the 1896 Revolution. As a result, nationalist historians have papered over his complex personality and life. More damningly, knee-jerk nationalism in this case has blinded historians to Paterno’s signally important contributions to the development of history as a discipline in the Philippines. Panahon at Pagsasalaysay ni Pedro Paterno, 1858-1911: Isang Pag-aaral sa Intelektuwalismo (The Times and Historiography of Pedro Paterno, 1858-1911: A Study on Intellectualism)seeks to (re-)situate Paterno as a colonial Filipino scholar of his time. Bound to the colonial motherland and the colonized land of birth in equal respects, he fought tirelessly with other intellectuals (ilustrados) to obtain from Spain respect for the Philippines. Upon his return home, he proved to be a prolific scholar whose works helped lay the foundation for the country’s scholarly tradition. This book explores Paterno’s prodigious works in a framework that sheds light on the moral values he professed, the narcissism he so infamously displayed, and the political and intellectual decisions he chose. In so doing, we gain a more complicated picture of the elitist, ilustradogeneration, as scholars, pioneers, and engineers of its country’s nationhood.
Towards a Filipino History: A Festschrift for Zeus Salazar
Author: Portia L. Reyes
Publisher: BAKAS Inc.
Year Published: 2015
ISBN-10: 9718755098
ISBN-13: 978-9718755099
In the 1980s scholarship in the Philippines saw the rise in popularity of a new kind of historiography called the Pantayong Pananaw (PP/from-us-for-us perspective). PP undermined the established historiography of the Philippines, which was written and taught in the English language, by privileging the Filipino language, culture and personhood in history-writing and the historical narrative. It focused the eye/ I of the narrative on the Filipino people’s experience towards nationhood, thereby instigating contrapuntal writings among scholars of the Philippines in what could be referred as a historians’ debate. Behind the ascent of PP was a school of proponents, led by the historian and PP author Zeus Salazar. A long-time professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City, Salazar contributed in shaping the minds of future historians and scholars of and in paving the way towards the linguistic turn of social scientific research in the Philippines. Towards a Filipino History. A Festschrift for Zeus Salazarcelebrates Salazar’s distinguished place in the academy in the Philippines by putting together essays by his colleagues, former students, friends and relatives who tackled different areas of Philippine Studies and Southeast Asian Studies. To an extent the essays reflect some of Salazar’s achievements—they showcase works by sholars he has touched and depict themes and topics he relates with. They are illustrative of Salazar’s dedication to progressive pedagogy and scholarly inquiry.
Seng Guo Quan
Strangers in the Family: Gender, Patriliny and the Chinese in Colonial Indonesia
Author: Seng Guo Quan
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Year Published: Nov 2023
ISBN-10: 1501772511
ISBN-13: 978-1501772511
In Strangers in the Family, Guo-Quan Seng provides a gendered history of settler Chinese community formation in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial period (1816–1942). At the heart of this story lies the creolization of patrilineal Confucian marital and familial norms to the colonial legal, moral, and sexual conditions of urban Java.
Departing from male-centered narratives of Overseas Chinese communities, Strangers in the Family tells the history of community- formation from the perspective of women who were subordinate to, and alienated from, full Chinese selfhood. From native concubines and mothers, creole Chinese daughters, and wives and matriarchs, to the first generation of colonial-educated feminists, Seng showcases women's moral agency as they negotiated, manipulated, and debated men in positions of authority over their rights in marriage formation and dissolution. In dialogue with critical studies of colonial Eurasian intimacies, this book explores Asian-centered inter-ethnic patterns of intimate encounters. It shows how contestations over women's place in marriage and in society were formative of a Chinese racial identity in colonial Indonesia.
Tan Tai Yong
The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia
Authors: Tai Yong Tan, Gyanesh Kudaisya
Publisher: Routledge
Year Published: 2002
ISBN-10: 0415289084
ISBN-13: 978-0415359542
This book draws upon new theoretical insights and fresh bodies of data to historically reappraise partition in the light of its long aftermath. It uses a comparative approach by viewing South Asia in its totality, rather than looking at it in narrow 'national' terms. As the first book to focus on the aftermath of partition, it fills a distinctive niche in the study of contemporary South Asia.
Diaspora Engagement and Development in South Asia
Editors: Tan Tai Yong, Md Mizanur Rahman
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year Published: 2013
ISBN-10: 1137334444
ISBN-13: 978-1137334442
The global South Asian diaspora is over 50 million strong. Many of its members maintain strong social, economic and cultural connections to their countries of origin. They also engage in various causes and institutions that directly benefit their countries and people in South Asia. A global cast of contributors aim to document the various forms of diaspora engagement between global South Asian diasporas and their origin countries, deepening understanding of the opportunity that these diaspora communities are hoarding for development, and providing insight on how to tap the development potential of diaspora engagement for countries in South Asia.
Beyond Degrees: The Making of the National University of Singapore
Authors: Edwin Lee, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: Singapore University Press
Year Published: 1996
ISBN-10: 9971692031 (Hardback), 9971692023 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-9971692025
This book engagingly recounts the colourful and chequered history of Singapore's foremost tertiary institution, from its beginning as a medical school in 1905 to its status today as a major research institution. This fully-illustrated book also includes many anecdotes of famous characters who have studied or taught at the University.
The Garrison State The Military, Goverment and Society in Colonial Punjab, 1849-1947
Author: Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Year Published: 2005
ISBN-10: 0761933360
ISBN-13: 9780761933366
This book examines the impact of the Indian army in the development of colonial Punjab. It examines the processes and extent by which the province was militarized, analyses the nature of this labour market and shows how the need to control an expanding recruiting ground led to the integration of the civil administration with the military command, therby laying the foundations of a civil-military regime in the Punjab.
Partition and Post-Colonial South Asia - A Reader (3 Volumes)
Editors: Tan Tai Yong, Gyanesh Kudaisya
Publisher: Routledge
Year Published: 2008
ISBN-10: 0415359546
ISBN-13: 978-0415359542
The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 was a turning point for the area, irrevocably altering the fortunes of the people of South Asia. This new three-volume reader brings together an array of materials drawing upon new theoretical insights and fresh bodies of data which critically examine the effects of that momentous division. Organized thematically, the contents cover a range of topics including: borders and boundaries; refugeehood and displacement; majorities and minorities; citizenship; diaspora; and the construction of post-colonial national identities. The set includes a critical introduction and provides a thematic overview identifying new developments and key debates. Presenting a plurality of viewpoints, the collection brings a new perspective to the literature by integrating topics within a comparative framework encompassing India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore
Authors: Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International
Year Published: 2020
ISBN-10: 9814828106
ISBN-13: 978-9814828109
Assessments of Singapore's history invariably revolve around Sir Stamford Raffles' arrival in 1819. Before this date - we've been told - "nothing very much appears to have happened in Singapore". Pre-1819 Singapore was a sleepy, historically insignificant fishing village, little more than the "occasional resort of pirates".
This ambitious book, co-written by four of Singapore's foremost historians, offers an assertive re-evaluation of that view, firmly situating Singapore's starting point seven hundred years ago. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary range of archival, textual and cartographical records, as well as the latest archaeological discoveries, the authors cast a singular historical trajectory for Singapore over the past seven centuries, animating its history like never before.
Written in a compelling and accessible manner, and richly illustrated with more than 200 artefacts, photographs, maps, art works and ephemera, this volume builds upon the foundations of an earlier book, Singapore: A 700-Year History. Extensively rewritten to incorporate ground-breaking research findings, Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore widens the historical lens and offers a vital new perspective on the story of Singapore.
The Transformation of Southeast Asia: International Perspectives on Decolonization
Editors: Marc Frey, Ronald W. Pruessen, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: Routledge
Year Published: 2003
ISBN-10: 0765611392
ISBN-13: 9780765611390
This is a volume of strong essays that investigate the ending of European rule right across Southeast Asia -- comparing the experience of one society with another, and showing how the constitutional and economic configuration of the region has been shaped by the colonial experience. The view is stated eloquently that to understand Southeast Asia today we must recognise that the process of decolonisation is still underway.
Creating Greater Malaysia: Decolonization and the Politics of Merger
Author: Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Year Published: 2008
ISBN-10: 9812307478
ISBN-13: 978-9812307477
This book offers an in-depth and detailed analysis of the political processes that led to formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. It argues that the Malaysia that came into being following the amalgamation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo was a political creation whose only rationale was that it served a convergence of political and economic expediency for the departing colonial power, the Malayan leadership and the ruling party of self-governing Singapore. "Greater Malaysia" was thus an artificial political entity, the outcome of a concatenation of interests and motives of a number of political actors in London and Southeast Asia from the 1950s to the early 1960s. The book contrasts the complicated negotiations and hard bargaining between Singapore and Malaya on the critical issues of citizenship, control of finances and the development of a common market during the lead-up to merger with the relative ease with which the North Borneo Territories were incorporated in the Federation. The haste and testing conditions in which negotiations were conducted between 1961 and 1963, often with the British facilitating the process as an "honest broker", led to a number of unresolved compromises between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. These compromises, however, did not obviate the possibility of future difficulties, and the seeds of dissension sown by the disagreements between the two governments were to sprout into major crises during Singapore's brief history in the Federation of Malaysia.
Singapore, A 700-Year History: From Early Emporium to World City
Authors: Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Tan Tai Yong
Publisher: National Archives Singapore
Year Published: 2009
ISBN-10: 9810830505
ISBN-13: 978-9810830502
This book is different from other books on Singapore history in its long sighted view of Singapore’s past. Where all other books start Singapore’s history with Sir Stamford Raffles’ arrival in 1819, this book argues that Singapore’s history started 500 years earlier, with the arrival of Seri Teri Buana from Palembang and his sighting of a Lion on this island. The book attempts a reinterpretation of that event, which has been dismissed as a myth, within the context of the archaeological evidence recovered since 1984 from excavations on and around Fort Canning. The archaeological evidence now confirms the existence of an early Emporium on Singapore in the 14th century which the book argues owed its prosperity to an earlier cycle of globalized trade underpinned by a Chinese market under the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Singapore, this book contends, was not a “sleepy fishing village” prior to Raffles’ arrival, but a thriving harbour and port under the Johor-Riau sultanate. The book reconstructs Raffles’ arrival at Singapore and all that followed in the long cycles of the maritime history of the Melaka Straits. The book situates Singapore’s current concerns about its status as a Global City in the current post-Cold War cycle of globalization in the larger and longer cycles of earlier globalization with the intent of providing a corrective perspective to the myopic view of Singapore after 1965.
Wang Jinping
In the Wake of the Mongols: The Making of a New Social Order in North China, 1200-1600
Author: Wang Jinping
Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center
Year Published: 2020
ISBN-10: 0674247892
ISBN-13: 978-0674247895
The Mongol conquest of north China between 1211 and 1234 inflicted terrible wartime destruction, wiping out more than half of the population and dismantling the existing social order. In the Wake of the Mongols recounts the riveting story of how northern Chinese men and women adapted to these trying circumstances and interacted with their alien Mongol conquerors to create a drastically new social order. To construct this story, the book uses a previously unknown source of inscriptions recorded on stone tablets.
Jennifer Yip
Grains of Conflict The Struggle for Food in China's Total War, 1937–1945
Author: Jennifer Yip
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year Published: Jul 2025
ISBN-10: 1009601326
ISBN-13: 978-1009601320
China's war against Japan was, at its heart, a struggle for food. As the Nationalists, Chinese Communist Party, and Japanese vied for a dwindling pool of sustenance, grain emerged as the lynchpin of their strategies for a long-term war effort. In the first in-depth examination of how the Nationalists fed their armies, Jennifer Yip demonstrates how the Chinese government relied on mass civilian mobilization to carry out all stages of provisioning, from procurement to transportation and storage. The intensive use of civilian labor and assets–a distinctly preindustrial resource base– shaped China's own conception of its total war effort, and distinguished China's experience as unique among World War Two combatants. Yip challenges the predominant image of World War II as one of technological prowess, and the tendency to conflate total war with industrialized warfare. Ultimately, China sustained total war against the odds with premodern means: by ruthlessly extracting civilian resources.
