The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume 1, Part 2: From c. 1500 to c. 1800

The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia

by Nicholas Tarling (Editor)

Volume 2 discusses Southeast Asia's interaction with foreign countries during the period c. 1500 to c. 1800. Of specific interest is increased trade with China, India and Europe. The spread of Islam and Christianity in the period is shown to change Southeast Asia dramatically. A concluding chapter deals with the transitional nature of the late eighteenth century.

Genres: History, Asia

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2000

About the author

Nicholas Tarling was Professor of History at the University of Auckland from 1968 until 1997 and a Fellow of its New Zealand Asia Institute. He was the editor of The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia and wrote nearly 50 books and a large number of articles on the region.

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour]

Decent, but less satisfying with volume 1 for several reasons, one of which, at least, isn't the contributors' fault. This was a complex period of authority's advance and retrenchement on the mainland from Burma to Vietnam and a period of wackadoodle ebb and flow in the island territories as well. This makes it heard to have a cohesive area study because other than the jerkface European irruption, and religion to a certain extent, there wasn't much to tie the region together as a whole.
Now, the contributors do the best they can and I don't know if it's the editing or what, but this volume comes across as much messier than its predecessor with unnecessary overlap and a lack of continuity between chapters and regions, even. Less straightforward, there is a lot of jumping back and forth between area and time alike even within the individual chapters, which makes it difficult to follow at times. That said, there is a lot to learn and a lot to gain, especially from the chapters on political evolution in the area, and the reaction to or accommodation with, European powers who basically hustled their way in, mafia-style.

[Valerie]

An absolute must for serious students of the region. Currently finding the chapters on Burma particularly insightful.

[Patrick]

Not the best of the Cambridge histories. Relies too much on outdated and poorly cited sources, and probably due to its scope it's forced to be fairly abstract and comparative -- most of the chapters in this volume just aren't able to do the individual regions of Southeast Asia justice. Still gives a serviceable overview of a transformative period, which makes it basically irreplaceable if you're trying to establish timelines without relying on Wikipedia.

[BONAMAI Angulegoi]

I am thinking about the southeast Asian countries