Indonesia Books

It covers the period from Indonesia's struggle for independence from the Dutch under Sukarno in the late 40's until the end of the 20th century. Its history is as varied as the expanse of its territory. It ranges from the extremes of its economic cycle to the ethnic clashes between the pribumis and Chinese, from the corruption and fall of the Suharto regime to the genocidal occupation of East Timor.

The author covers each of the above topics in great detail - in addition, he describes the role of Islam in the politics of the country, the influence of the military and the characteristics of the Javanese system of patronage. Each topic is well covered, but for the book as a whole lacks cohesion. It does not detract too much from the content - but potential readers should note that its light on analysis and heavy on factual presentation.

Living in Malaysia and Singapore for most of this period, this book was my first introduction to Indonesia's chequered past. Its neighbours are understandably cautious in how they present views on the largest country in Southeast Asia - controversial news
is often considered sensitive and carefully edited to avoid inflaming the parties involved. For this, I'm glad to have read this book - it was a comprehensive primer on the recent history of modern Indonesia.

This is the only field-guide to the amazing primates of this country. It covers 40 known species (even a few of dubious validity) of which 21 are endemic to Indonesia. Species are illustrated on colour drawings and photos, accompanied by a map showing distribution. Unfortunately the quality of these leaves a lot to be desired...
More interesting is the information in the Indonesian language text, which covers distribution, appearence, ecology, behaviour, conservation status and even recommendations on where to see them in the wild!
The latter is of particular interest to ecotourists and the names of conservation areas or other localities could be recognized even by those who know little or no Indonesian.
You are more likely to find this book in a big bookstore (like Gramedia) in Indonesia than anywhere on-line.

This book is interesting from a historical point of view. It follows missionary practise in Irian Jaya as it was before the war, and as seen through the eyes of a young boy. The author was himself in such a position. The story follows Jim and his father as they set out for a trip into the interior. They meet with all sorts of events on the way. A better translator might have done more justice to the book, but even so it is an interesting story, and as a young boy I enjoyed it very much.

This book describes a quick rush around much of Indonesia in search of "traditional peoples" by a couple who seemed to have little information about these peoples yet wanted to "save" them.
Places visited include North Sumatra, Siberut, West Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Seram and the Baliem Valley and the Asmat regions of West Papua, but they don't seem to spend more than a few days anywhere.
It is mostly interesting as a 1970es glimpse of several places which have now become major tourist destinations.

Basics: 2000, softcover, 136 pages, color photos of 236 species, no range maps

Like others of its kind, this compact guide provides color photos for 236 species found in these western islands of Indonesia. This represents about 1/3 of the nearly 640 birds found here. A good sampling of all the families is given, with perhaps fewer for the warblers. This is probably a good idea considering the difficulty of identifying them without multiple illustrations.

These photos are pretty good for 90-95% of the birds, despite all of them being somewhat small as necessitated by the size of the book. Just one photo is given for each bird. For the other 5-10% of the birds, these photos often show an unhelpful pose from behind or below or, a pose that does not show the necessary field marks well enough.

The text is a brief paragraph that focuses primarily on the description of the bird to aid in identification. This will be helpful some of the time. For some birds, a comparison is made to a similar species. Some additional short notes are offered on behavior and habitat.

Due to the limited number of birds and the few plumages shown, this book will not be appreciated for a serious birding trip. Use this guide like you should all its similar congeners - only as a practice tool in conjunction with a complete field guide.

I've listed several related books below...
1) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia by Strange
2) The Birds of Borneo, 4th ed. by Smythies
3) A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali by MacKinnon/Phillipps
4) Photographic Guide to the Birds of Borneo by Davison/Fook
5) A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea by Coates/Bishop
6) De Avifauna van de Plantentuin te Buitenzorg. by Hoogerwerf
7) Birds: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore by Strange
8) A Field Guide to the Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore by Jeyarajasingam/Pearson
9) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore by Davison/Fook

As I know, this paperback is the first publication about Post Soeharto period which written by foreign (non-Indonesian) authors.

Probably because of I am not a politician, I'd never heard about all authors. But my hunch tell that mostly come from Murdoch University - Western Australia, which have several specialist researches about Indonesia instead of have some well-known Indonesian experts there. So the authors could ask something, consult or gather feedbacks, opinions, and advices from them directly.

So this book is good enough to learn how Indonesia could be look from overseas

An interesting topic for SAS fans but this book is as dry as a popcorn you know what. Pictures are grainy and/or poor quality.
Rather disappointing considering who the author's ancestor was (Charles Dickens!)
Recommend this book if you are doing a research paper and need the info anyway you can get it otherwise look for some other excellent SAS books elsewhere.

This book is a useful introduction to the history of US-Indonesian relations. The prospective reader is cautioned, however, that the author has a bias in favor of the Indonesians, who apparently can do little wrong and are constantly misunderstood. It's a classic case of a former US diplomat's having "gone native."

This book describes a quick rush around much of Indonesia in search of "traditional peoples" by a couple who seemed to have little information about these peoples yet wanted to "save" them.
Places visited include North Sumatra, Siberut, West Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Seram and the Baliem Valley and the Asmat regions of West Papua, but they don't seem to spend more than a few days anywhere.
It is mostly interesting as a 1970es glimpse of several places which have now become major tourist destinations.

This was a very informative book that focused on a variety of aspects of Indonesian history, with an emphasis on Sukarno. However, because it was published in 1959, some of the information and language is out-dated. Much of the information Fischer included was based on interviews. It's best to read it as Fischer's view of Indonesia during the Cold War, especially near the end of the book where he speculates on the future of the country.