This brand new edition of A History of Malaysia brings the story of this fascinating country up to date, incorporating the latest scholarship on every period of Malaysian history. Fresh analysis of Islam's historical role in the Malay world and how it links with the growing Islamization of Malaysia today make for a timely study.
First published in 1982, this text is widely regarded as a leading general history of the country. This new and revised edition brings the story of this fascinating country up to date, incorporating the latest scholarship on every period of Malaysian history, including recent research into pre-modern times. This text thus provides a historical framework that helps explain the roots of the issues dominating Malaysian life today, and the difficulties of creating a multicultural state where resources are equitably shared and the rights of all citizens are acknowledged.
This book is a key text for courses on Southeast Asian history and politics. Covering a range of disciplinary subjects in the humanities and social sciences, it is also useful for anyone interested in the assessment of young, modernizing nations.
The history of Malaysia was a fine example of objective scholarship about the country's multifaceted development when it was first published over 30 years ago. The new edition brings that tangled story up to the present, confirming how truly remarkable the Andayas' achievement has been.