Southeast Asia: A Concise History Book

The movement and interaction of cultures, religions, and peoples is a key theme in Southeast Asia's history, for it has always been one of the world's great crossroads. It has seen the rise and fall of empires, whose god-kings built monumental temples and shrines that still inspire awe today: the great Khmer temples of Angkor, the Javanese Buddhist shrine of Borobudur, or the pagodas of Burma. The region has also been home to great seafaring states such as Srivijaya in Sumatra or the Sultanate of Malacca on the Malayan Peninsula. The promise of spices and luxury goods enticed Europeans to this part of the world in the sixteenth century. Early trading posts eventually became colonial empires, and by the beginning of the twentieth century the region was divided between the Netherlands, France, Spain, Britain, and the United States. The Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia during World War II galvanized nationalist movements, but while much of the region achieved independence in the postwar years, Indochina, a major theater of the Cold War, experienced massive devastation from which it is still recovering. Mary Somers Heidhues, the author of several books on Southeast Asia, covers the history of the region from the earliest prehistoric peoples to the late twentieth century--from the great Dongson bronze drums produced in Vietnam in the first millennium B.C. to the emergence of high-tech "tiger economies," ongoing struggles for democracy, and the environmental threat posed by pollution and deforestation. Filled with informative maps and illustrations, this lively book will appeal to historians, travelers, students, and everyone who wants to know more about this fascinating part of the world.Read More