A History of Southeast Asia Critical Crossroads

“Reid’s book is elegantly written, carefully crafted, and amply effective in its articulation and presentation of a clear, coherent, and compelling account of Southeast Asian history. The book is a stunning achievement, certain to become the history of Southeast Asia for many years to come.”
John Sidel, London School of Economics, UK

“Anthony Reid has not only summarized his broad and deep knowledge of Southeast Asian history but entered into dialog with other scholars from a variety of fields to produce what will be the authoritative history of this region for years to come.”
Mary Somers Heidhues, Göttingen, Germany

“A really wonderful history, one that I think will find a large audience, and deservingly so. This new volume will be a very significant contribution to the field.”
Eric Tagliacozzo, Cornell University, USA

Few places in the world possess greater historical complexity than the culturally diverse region of Southeast Asia. A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads presents a comprehensive, single-volume history of Southeast Asia from its encounters with agriculture, metallurgy, and religion to the late emergence of the ten states that make up this region today. Breaking from the dominant colonial and nationalist narrative that highlights Southeast Asia’s quest for statehood as its defining characteristic, historian Anthony Reid shifts the primary focus to factors of greater relevance to its inhabitants, such as environmental, religious, social, cultural, demographic, health, and intellectual changes. The result is a fuller and more richly detailed account of the region’s complex and nuanced history.

Reid reveals Southeast Asia’s distinctive gender pattern was challenged first by scriptural religions and later by European models of middle-class domesticity. Also covered is the seventeenth-century impoverishment of the region relative to European society, and Southeast Asia’s “peasantization” during the high colonial era. Concluding chapters focus on transformative events of the twentieth century: from the region’s development as a major battleground for the Pacific War with its aftermath of decolonization and the Cold War to the region’s long-awaited emergence from poverty, dictatorship, and conflict in the final decades of the century. A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads is indispensable for understanding the historic rhythm of this important crossroads of the Asian continent.