Southeast Asia: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

An excellent introduction to Southeast Asia's past, present and likely future. A very good overview of the economic and political evolution of Southeast Asia with key reference to the cultural and social aspects that are peculiar to the region. Excellent summaries of the processes of colonization and decolonization and how both have made the region what is today. Emphasizes that Southeast Asia is fully integrated into the world at present, and is not the backwater that I once thought it was.

According to this guy, the reason the Khmer Rouge took power was because the US bombed Cambodia during the Vietnam War. He cites no other reason. No discussion of the Soviet Union, China, Pol Pot, or ideology. Just, the United States bombed Cambodia and that caused the Khmer Rouge. Somehow, by fighting the international communist movement in Southeast Asia, the United States is solely responsible for the communist Khmer Rouge regime coming to power. Don’t trust anything this guy says. He’s obviously operating on the ideological premise (so fashionable in academia today) that anything that has ever gone wrong in the world must be uniquely the fault of the West.

Rush manages to pack into this little book the essential facts about Southeast Asia, its history from earliest times through its colonial period and through its ongoing struggle to modernize and fit into the global economy. The author provides a clear, concise account of Southeast Asia’s tangled web of ethnic groups, languages and religions. The writing is clear, informal English and reads smoothly, despite the complexity of the subject. This book is an excellent introduction to a fascinating part of the world and a very useful background for anyone contemplating travel to this corner of Asia.

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