Colin Brown is Professor of Asian Studies at Flinders University. He has taught at universities in Australia and Indonesia, and has published widely on Indonesian history, culture and politics. An active member of the Australia Indonesia Business Council, he has been a frequent visitor to Indonesia since 1972.Series Editor Milton Osborne has had an association with the Asian region for over 40 years as an academic, public servant and independent writer. He is the author of eight books on Asian topics, including Southeast Asia: An introductory history, first published in 1979 and now in its eighth edition, and, most recently, The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future, published in 2000.

AcknowledgmentsMaps of IndonesiaAcronymsGlossryNote on transcriptionThe Indonesian contextThe rise of states: 1-1500 CEThe age of commerce: 1400-1700Economic demise, political decline: 1600-1800Establishment of empire: 1800-1900Times of change: 1900-1945From revolution to authoritarian rule: 1945-1957Guided to Pancasila democracy: 1956-1998Reformasi: The post-Suharto era?Bibliographical essayEndnotesIndex