This book brings together for the first time studies on all aspects of the Malaysian economy. These range from the geological origins and mineral resources, flora, fauna, peoples and cultures, political development, economy and society, environment and ecotourism in Malaysia and encapsulates the integration of the country into the wider international economy. The book also attempts to make Malaysia's current economic and political development more explicable by considering it in the light of these natural and human resource endowments and by exploring how they have changed over time.

CHEAH BOON KHENG former Professor of History, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang
JOHN H. DRABBLE former Senior Lecturer and Reader in Economic History, University of Sydney
ALBERTO GOMES Senior Lecturer, School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology, La Trobe University
GISELA KAPLAN Adjunct Professor, Research Centre of Aboriginal and Multicultural Studies, University of New England, Armidale, NSW
NALLAMILLI PRAKASH Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Botany, University of New England
LESLEY ROGERS Personal Chair, Professor of Psychology, University of New England, Armidale, Australia

List of Tables List of Maps List of Figures Foreword Preface Notes on the Contributors Introduction; A.Kaur & I.Metcalfe Geological Origins and Natural Resources; I.Metcalfe Flora; N.Prakash Fauna: Past, Present and Future; L.J.Rogers Peoples and Cultures; A.Gomes Politics; C.B.Kheng Economy and Society: The Formation of a National Economy; A.Kaur Environment and Ecotourism: The Case of the Orang-Utan; G.Kaplan The 'Lucky Country': Malaysia's Twentieth Century Economic Transformation; J.H.Drabble Index