Despite its extraordinary diversity of ethnicities, religions, and political systems, Southeast Asia plays a key role in global economies and geopolitics, especially in light of its strategic position bordering China and India.

• List of illustrations


• Introduction


• 1: What is Southeast Asia?


• 2: Kingdoms


• 3: Colonies


• 4: Nations


• 5: The past is in the present


• References


• Further reading


• Index

James Rush is Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University. He has served as Director of Arizona State University's Program for Southeast Asian Studies and as a consultant to The Asia Society, El Colegio de Mexico, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He is the author and editor of several books, including Opium to Java: Revenue Farming and Chinese Enterprise in Colonial Indonesia, 1860-1910 and Java: A Travellers' Anthology.