Description
A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads presents a comprehensive history of Southeast Asia from our earliest knowledge of its civilizations and religious patterns up to the present day.
- Incorporates environmental, social, economic, and gender issues to tell a multi-dimensional story of Southeast Asian history from earliest times to the present
- Argues that while the region remains a highly diverse mix of religions, ethnicities, and political systems, it demands more attention for how it manages such diversity while being receptive to new ideas and technologies
- Demonstrates how Southeast Asia can offer alternatives to state-centric models of history more broadly
Part of The Blackwell History of the World Series
The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.
About the Author
ANTHONY REID is Professor Emeritus at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He has taught and researched Southeast Asian history for 50 years, in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, and the United States. He was Founding Director of the Asia Research Institute in Singapore. He has authored or edited numerous books on aspects of Southeast Asian history from the fourteenth to the twenty-first centuries, including explorations on slavery, freedom, Islam, gender, the Chinese minority and its Jewish analogy, population, and economic history.
Reviews
"Among the book's many virtues is Reid's ability to break down the two thousand years he had to cover in order to guide the reader through space and time. ...Written in a straightforward, no-nonsense style, the book will be accessible to many, with judiciously chosen quotations to enliven the story." (Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1 November 2015)
"Understanding the region is therefore not just a matter of intellectual curiosity but also of considerable topical importance. Despite its textbook-like appearance, History is eminently readable. It succeeds at both providing a broad-brush overview of this complex region, presenting it from within, identifying and tracing major themes, while at the same time delivering a wealth of fascinating and intriguing detail." (Asian Review of Books, 25 November 2015)
"Reid's comprehensive survey covers all of the major societies and many of the minor ones from Burma to the Philippines throughout the centuries. The thematic approach, interpretative insights, useful bibliography, and almost encyclopaedic wealth of information will make Reid's History of Southeast Asia an exceptionally valuable, even indispensable, resource and reference book for other scholars... this book is a splendid contribution that can and should be read and discussed with interest by scholars and teachers of Southeast Asian studies as well as world and Eurasian history." (Asian Studies Review)
"A splendid contribution that can and should be read and discussed with interest by scholars and teachers of Southeast Asian studies as well as world and Eurasian history." - Craig A. Lockard, Asian History Review no. 41 (Nov. 2016, pp.167-8)
Awards
Commended for PROSE Award for Textbook in the Humanities 2016 (United States).
Book Information
ISBN 9781118513002
Author Anthony Reid
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 816g
Dimensions(mm) 244mm * 170mm * 19mm
