Tim Hannigan's first book, Murder in the Hindu Kush (The History Press, 2011) was shortlisted for the Boardman-Tasker Prize. His second book Raffles and the British Invasion of Java (Monsoon Books, 2012) won the 2013 John Brooks Award. His features and travel articles appear regularly in newspapers and magazines in Indonesia and beyond.

"Indonesia is the fabled Spice Islands of every school child's dreams--one of the most colorful ... countries in history. These are the islands that Europeans set out on countless voyages to discover and later fought bitterly over in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. This was the land that Christopher Columbus sought and Magellan actually reached and explored ... This ... book tells the story of Indonesia as a narrative of kings, traders, missionaries, soldiers, and revolutionaries--featuring stormy sea crossings, fiery volcanoes, and the occasional tiger"--