Max Havelaar - a Dutch civil servant in Java - burns with an insatiable desire to end the ill treatment and oppression inflicted on the native peoples by the colonial administration. Max is an inspirational figure, but he is also a flawed idealist whose vow to protect the Javanese from cruelty ends … [Read more...]
The Coalitions Presidents Make
June 6, 2025 by
In The Coalitions Presidents Make , Marcus Mietzner explains how Indonesia has turned its volatile post-authoritarian presidential system into one of the world's most stable. He argues that since 2004, Indonesian presidents have deployed nuanced strategies of coalition building to consolidate their … [Read more...]
We Have Tired of Violence
June 5, 2025 by
We Have Tired of Violence, a chilling work of true crime about the midair murder of a human rights activist, set against a riveting political drama in the world's fourth-largest nation On a warm Jakarta night in September 2004, Munir said goodbye to his wife and friends at the airport. He was … [Read more...]
The Last Whalers
June 5, 2025 by
On a volcanic island in the Savu Sea so remote that other Indonesians call it "The Land Left Behind" live the Lamalerans: a tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who are the world's last subsistence whalers. They have survived for half a millennium by hunting whales with bamboo harpoons and handmade … [Read more...]
The Power of Prophecy
April 22, 2025 by
National hero, Javanese mystic, pious Muslim, and leader of the "holy war" against the Dutch between 1825 and 1830, the Yogyakarta prince, Dipanagara, is pre-eminent in the pantheon of modern Indonesian historical figures. This is the first full biography based on Dutch and Javanese sources. The … [Read more...]
