Sumatera: Revolusi dan Elit Tradisional

by Anthony Reid

Buku ini disebut-sebut sebagai bukti keberhasilan tugas besar sejarawan Anthony Reid menguak revolusi-revolusi sosial paling hebat di Indonesia yang terjadi dan mengguncang Sumatera seiring proklamasi kemerdekaan. Reid mampu menghidupkan suatu narasi dengan kekayaan detail di sekitar peristiwa pertikaian kelas, konflik etnis, bentrokan agama sebagai klimaks sekaligus titik balik yang dramatis dimana kaum bangsawan juga raja-sultan Melayu serta Aceh disapu bersih dan itu menandai dimulainya perputaran sejarah modern di Sumatera. Berdasarkan lusinan wawancara dengan sejumlah saksi mata dan pihak-pihak yang terlibat, sumber-sumber arsip Belanda, Jepang, Inggris, Malaysia serta suratkabar-suratkabar Indonesia, Reid menelusuri akar-akar historis dari abad ke-16 sampai ke-20 sekaligus bagaimana Sumatera menjadi contoh perubahan sosial paling menyeluruh dalam revolusi Indonesia dan dinamisnya Indonesia pada masa perang kemerdekaan 1945-1949. Reid mendalami bidang yang kompleks dari periode revolusi sosial di abad ke-20, namun berhasil menggabungkannya ke dalam studi komparatif yang menarik dan berkontribusi besar guna memahami latarbelakang perubahan sosial pada pertengahan abad ke-20 di Indonesia.

385 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Anthony Reid was a New Zealand-born historian of Southeast Asia. His doctoral work at Cambridge University examined the contest for power in northern Sumatra, Indonesia in the late 19th century, and he extended this study into a book The Blood of the People on the national and social revolutions in that region 1945–49. He is most well known for his two volume book "Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce", developed during his time at the Research School of Pacific (and Asian) Studies, Australian National University in Canberra. His later work includes a return to Sumatra where he explored the historical basis for the separate identity of Aceh; interests in nationalism, Chinese diaspora and economic history, and latterly the relation between geology and deep history.
Professor Reid taught Southeast Asian history at University of Malaya (1965–1970) and Australian National University (1970–1999). He became the founding director of the Southeast Asia Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 1999–2002, and then the founding director of Asia Research Institute (ARI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), 2002–2007. He retired from NUS in 2009. Thereafter he was based in Canberra as Professor (Emeritus) at the Australian National University.
As a writer of fiction he styled himself Tony Reid. He was the son of John S. Reid, a New Zealand diplomat who held postings in Indonesia, Japan and Canada in the 1950s and 1960s.

Reviews

[Miko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revolusi Sumatera Timur 1946 merupakan fase transisi dari kekuatan tradisional kerajaan melayu dan aceh menjadi pro jawa. Fase tersebut melahirkan berbagai konflik kekerasan antara kekuatan istana melayu tradisional dengan pendukungnya melawan kekuatan nasionalis-komunis yang ditengahi Tentara RI yang belum matang.