Indonesia: Peoples and Histories

I purchased this book by chance (didn't have a history of Indonesia on my bookshelves, thought maybe I should) and I certainly didn't know much about Indonesia before reading it (my daughter majored in Southeast Asian Studies, but the closest I ever got was Singapore). So I certainly can't judge the author's research (but assume that Yale University Press wouldn't have published the book if it were not sound).Speaking as a layperson, I LOVED this detailed, nuanced account of the peoples who eventually became Indonesians. Yes, the author's style is a bit cool and understated, so the book begins slowly, but the boxed "Capsules" and Taylor's balanced portrayal of ordinary people as well as elites creates a wonderful texture.The four earlier reviews sometimes make legitimate points but can also be partisan. (Of course, in a broad history we all look for topics of particular interest to us -- Is there too little on Buddhism? On Islam? Too much? Was some ruler or writer or activist omitted? Since I "had no horse in this race" I found the balance just fine. No, actually, I enjoyed the fact that Taylor paid attention to Indonesian women.)What I liked most about this work (the clue is in the title: Indonesia, Peoples and HistorIES) is the way in which Taylor explores parallel histories, competing accounts, and imaginary histories -- Javanese vs. Sumatran, Hindu vs. Muslim, Dutch vs. Asian, elite vs. village, Aceh vs. Ambonese, Chinese/Indonesians vs. Japanese, and many more. The result is a story of how history is created, as well as the creation of the nation of Indonesia.What I liked least about this work is the totally inadequate provision of historical maps! Boo! Hiss!

While this has a lot to recommend it, the author seems to be excessively politically correct. It would seem that she has no familiarity with mainstream economic analysis, but is perhaps overly familiar with Marxist economics. She seems to feel that value is only created by farmers/laborers and needs to remind of it. Her many boxed digressions are interesting, but the one on Hinduism and Buddhism is so strange, that it did make me question the validity of her work in areas I'm less familiar with. She says that the Dutch did not try to convert the Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist Indonesians because they regarded Asians as essentially different (inferentially a racist outlook). I would like to know her source for this, since the pragmatic observation that there were far too many of them and they were too attached to their religions to make forced conversion possible seems like a much more obvious reason for the decision.

I found this book to be a slog of a read. I understand the daunting task of assembling a history of such a diverse people but I found this book to be vague, opinionated, non-linear, overwhelmingly negative in outlook, and the author's knowledge of the surrounding regions and Islam seems to be quite limited.

Good introduction to history of Indonesia. Not much information on pre-Islamic period, but that is because records written on palm leaves (lontar) did not survive; not this author's fault. This book served me well as preparation for a trip to Bali.

This is not a general introduction to the history of Indonesia.Furthermore it seemed that it covered more of the Islamic and the colonial periods than any other eras. I think this is why previous reviewers were disappointed.This book does however, give critical insights into the colonial history of Indonesia. My favorite part is Chapter 6; Taylor explained the process in which the Dutch slowly and methodically overtook Java from the native kings and princes. This process was NOT a one-way street in which the Dutch just hacked their ways into the area and took everything forcibly; it was a three-way deal between the colonizer (the Dutch), the colonized (the native kings) and the intermediary race (the Chinese). And at the time it seemed that it's a win-win-win for all the greedy parties involved. Taylor's explanation changed the typical framing of the colonized as a victim, pure and simple. The reality was more complex. If you really want to learn how the process of colonization happened; this is an eye-opener. This book teaches me a lot more than a lifetime of standardized nationalistic history I've ever learned in Indonesia!The author provides various "boxes" of extra information about (obscure) historical figures and events which are unusual but welcome in my case. These are not standard historical figures but further discussion on them enhance the chapter main content. If you are familiar with Oliver Sacks' writing, you know that sometimes the footnotes themselves are just as interesting as the body of the text. Well, Taylor did that too, only in thematic "boxes" as opposed to footnotes. I really appreciate this extra information as they are hard to come by.OK, she is not an elegant writer. I agree with other reviewers' criticisms on that. Her sentences at times are short and choppy but hey .... I am not looking for poetry, I know I am not reading English literature. What I come to appreciate is her overall conceptualization of the history of colonial Indonesia. Taylor's conceptualization was original and furthermore she explained it clearly.If you find this book confusing or disappointing at the first read, give it another chance. Read something else more straightforward about the history of Indonesia and then come back to it.