- Hardcover: 544 pages
- Publisher: Yale University Press (15 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0300097093
- ISBN-13: 978-0300097092
- Product Dimensions: 24.7 x 16.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,692,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Taylor's new book is groundbreaking: it takes us on a grand journey from the earliest material cultures of the archipelago to Indonesia's turbulent present." Laurie J. Sears, author of Shadows of Empire: Colonial Discourse and Javanese Tales "Clear, erudite, and authoritative, this book provides a rich coverage of the vast tapestry of Indonesian society." Ben Kiernan, author of The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge
Ben Kiernan, Yale University
Clear, erudite, and authoritative, this book provides a rich coverage of the vast tapestry of Indonesian society.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
In the beginning there was no Indonesia. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
In the beginning there was no Indonesia. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Authorative, readable and well researched. Very valuable for an understanding of the complexity of the world's largest Muslim nation. Goes well beyond a simple history of the kingdoms, sultanates, colonisation to provide an understanding of the Indonesia's development as a nation and the people's diversity, beliefs and aspirations. Exceptional.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Quirky history for an eccentric nation
14 Dec 2003
Format:Hardcover
This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in Indonesia. It is not a standard sort of history, but its value lies in how the author brilliantly weaves together strands of Indonesia's prehistory, colonial history, and history as an independent nation--it reminds one of Churchill's maxim about the Balkans, that the region has to be a net exporter of history because it produces too much for local consumption. This book also demonstrates why the Australians are absolutely first-rate in Indonesian studies (look at a map--they have to be). Another huge plus are the extremely valuable capsule histories scattered throughout--little gems that capture small topics deftly. My only criticism is about the author's writing style: hardly "voluptuous" as one reviewer put it (what does voluptuous writing look like?)--but in fact it's fairly inelegant; the list approach to making your points.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Ignores Indonesia's past
21 Dec 2007
Format:Paperback
This book spends less than 60 pages describes the rich and diverse pre-Islamic past of Indonesia. The rest of the book treats Indonesia as if it has always been an Islamic state. But even into the late 19th century it was not a majority Muslim, until a series of ethnic-cleansing campaigns aimed at Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Chinese suceeded in making it so.
This book is basically a history of Islamic Indonesia and does'nt offer much to those interested in the great diversity of the country or of its rich and ancient history.
Seth J. Frantzman
This book is basically a history of Islamic Indonesia and does'nt offer much to those interested in the great diversity of the country or of its rich and ancient history.
Seth J. Frantzman
Very Disappointing
21 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
This was a terrible book, one of the worst I have read in years. I would have quit, but it was all I had taken with me on my trip to Indonesia.
The problem is that Geller almost never presents an arc of history. There is very little cause and effect, or discussion of broad themes that explain the change over time in Indonesia. Geller is trying to tell the history of an enormous nation, covering several centuries. Given such scope, we need big picture thinking and discussion. Instead, we get isolated facts and events, with no analysis at all of how they effected the larger sweep of history. The book reads like a series of unrelated facts.
On top of it all, the prose is dry and uninteresting.
I bought this book on a recommendation from Lonely Planet. I should have known better. Avoid this awful book.
The problem is that Geller almost never presents an arc of history. There is very little cause and effect, or discussion of broad themes that explain the change over time in Indonesia. Geller is trying to tell the history of an enormous nation, covering several centuries. Given such scope, we need big picture thinking and discussion. Instead, we get isolated facts and events, with no analysis at all of how they effected the larger sweep of history. The book reads like a series of unrelated facts.
On top of it all, the prose is dry and uninteresting.
I bought this book on a recommendation from Lonely Planet. I should have known better. Avoid this awful book.
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