books@cc.

since c.1200 (3rd ed.)
by M.C. Ricklefs (2001)

Divided into six parts of major chronological history of Indonesia from the coming of Islam to the removal of Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001, this textbook is designed as a stepping stone for those overwhelmed by the wealth of specialised information (and oftentimes in foreign-language), or those wanting relatively detailed panoramic view of Indonesian history in English without the overemphasis on colonialism and exoticism.

The book, with its lack of explicit opinions and views, at times read like “a paraphrase or summary of the work of others”, as Ricklefs himself admitted, the vast literature and data lucidly turned into succinct detailed narratives instead of broad interpretative themes on the history of the world’s largest archipelago. There is, however, a noticeably greater concentration on the history of Java due to the availability of historical data, the Java-centric politics of Indonesia and the author’s own field of study. But with its well-organized notes, references, bibliography and maps, it will definitely be a valuable English-language collection to anyone interested in the further investigation of history and politics of Indonesia.

Note: I saw the copies of the Indonesian version at Gunung Agung Surabaya. I’ll be curious as to how well this “classic” English text is translated into the language of its subject. Not to mention that price-wise, the translated version is of course much cheaper (Palgrave version cost about AUD60-70, while the Indonesian one IINM was about IDR100-120.000).

Tags:history, Indonesia, politics, social science
history, Indonesia, Recommended, Ricklefs, M.C., social science

January 11, 2007 @ 4:20 am