Empire of the Winds: The Global Role of Asia’s Great Archipelago

by Philip Bowring

Nusantaria – often referred to as 'Maritime Southeast Asia' – is the world's largest archipelago and has, for centuries, been a vital cultural and trading hub. Nusantara, a Sanskrit, then Malay, word referring to an island realm, is here adapted to become Nusantaria - denoting a slightly wider world but one with a single linguistic, cultural and trading base. Nusantaria encompasses the lands and shores created by the melting of the ice following the last Ice Age. These have long been primarily the domain of the Austronesian-speaking peoples and their seafaring traditions. The surrounding waters have always been uniquely important as a corridor connecting East Asia to India, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

In this book, Philip Bowring provides a history of the world's largest and most important archipelago and its adjacent coasts. He tells the story of the peoples and lands located at this crucial maritime and cultural crossroads, from its birth following the last Ice Age to today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Economics

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Philip Arthur Bowring is an English journalist and historian who was business editor, deputy editor and editor of the Asian news magazine the Far Eastern Economic Review for 17 years between 1973 and 1992.

Reviews

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of Maritime Southeast Asia’s rich and colourful history. Some examples: the Bugis, quoting Bowring, “enjoy[ed] relaxed mingling of the sexes, penis balls, cockfighting and music,” and transgender priests, prominent in their tradition, continued to populate Bugis Street till the 80s. The sophistication of maritime technology and the vibrancy of commerce and culture in this part of the world before colonisation is also captured in detail - an important counterweight to a widely-held perception that this region was merely a collection of sleepy villages. I suppose this view is a colonial invention, but Bowring also shows how nationalist leaders who emphasised religion conveniently forgot about parts of history when their ancestors formed great kingdoms but didn’t have the “right” religion (eg. Malaysia with its Srivijayan roots).

A downside to this book is that it is stylistically lacking. Perhaps the vastness of its scope (from the pre-historic to modern era) compromises the writer’s narratorial ability. At times it felt like he was listing events, a lot like when you add a THIRD case study to your SEA hist point to flex your knowledge using time that could have otherwise been spent on evaluation. Regardless, this is a good introductory book (with delightful illustrations!) that makes for a nice post-prelims reading.

[Richard Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled with my rating here, almost opting for 3 stars. On the positive side, the author covers an enormous stretch of time, geography, and cultures in under 300 pages, touching on the major events shaping the region’s evolution from early history to the onset of the contemporary era. On the negative side, there are many sections where the task defies the author’s best efforts, forcing the reader to consult external sources to aid understanding. Overall, for the new student of the pre-European trading / colonalization period, this is a good introductory book.

[Kes · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I’ve read enough histories of South East Asia that there wasn’t much new about most of this book - except the inclusion of Philippines. The author argues in the closing chapters that Philippines should be included when reviewing maritime South East Asia - but I don’t feel the argument is put across that strongly. What contributions did Philippines make? I did learn a bit more about how Philippines was lightly settled, fragmented, and had more gender equality, but these factors point a bit more to Philippines being rightly excluded from what is seen as “Malay SEA”.

So I deducted one star for that.

It is a worthwhile book - especially for beginners - and it covers most of the same ground as the other SEA histories I’ve read (amount of details vary between books). I did like the brief part about internecine strife within Chinese communities - resulting in Yap An Loy’s role in establishing KL as I haven’t read that part before. That being said, “Chinese were often viewed as aliens who increasingly dominated local commerce” - this reminded me of Amy Chua’s book on market dominant minorities.

[Sheeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nusantaria adalah buku non-fiksi sejarah yang sangat mudah dibaca karena bahasanya yang ringan (mungkin penerjamahannya yang bagus ya) dan mudah dipahami.

Buku ini membahas tentang sejarah maritim Asia Tenggara dan mengupasnya dengan tuntas. Di bab awal buku ini membahas tentang posisi Nusantara dan Asia Tenggara di mata dunia—terutama rempah-rempah. Bagaimana rempah-rempah bisa mencapai Romawi dan pengaruhnya di negeri tersebut. Tak hanya Romawi, tetapi juga India, Tiongkok, dan bukti-bukti prasejarah lainnya terkait dengan rempah.

Buku tentang perjalanan rempah dan kaitannya dengan beberapa bangsa sedikit sekali, tetapi buku ini berhaisl membuka pintu gerbang ilmu pengetahuan dasar terkait hal itu. Kita bisa memahami bagaimana maritim Asia Tenggara penting pada abad-abad awal masehi hingga abad pertengahan.

[Dion Yulianto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nusantaria merupakan istilah yang digunakan penulis untuk merujuk pada kawasan Asia Tenggara Kepulauan. Wilayah ini mencakup seluruh wilayah Republik Indonesia saat ini, Semenanjung Malaya, seluruh pulau-pulau kecil di Laut China Selatan, Pulau Borneo, dan kepulauan Filipina (bahkan mencakup Taiwan dan Madagaskar). Wilayah anak benua kepulauan ini sudah sejak lama dipersatukan oleh tradisi pelayaran samudra sejak zaman kuno, kebudayaan maritim serta rumpun bahasa Austronesia. Buku ini secara singkat adalah paparan dari sejarah wilayah kepulauan dengan tradisi pelayaran maritim terbesar dan terpenting di dunia, semenjak berakhirnya zaman es terakhir hingga terpecah-pecahnya wilayah ini menjadi beberapa negara modern yang seolah saling memiliki kebudayaan sendiri padahal mereka dulunya satu corak.

https://dionyulianto.blogspot.com/202...

[Rose Gan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a refreshing change to have an overview of the entire Asian maritime region that filled in many gaps in my knowledge and gave me a few lightbulb moments. It has short snappy chapters that telescope very complicated events in well explained summaries that each link deftly to the next topic. My only criticism would be that sometimes the narrative does seem to fall into a list of events almost as if they were his bullet points set in sentences. Bowlring also has a clumsy approach to sentence structure, unexpected in a journalist of his experience. But all in all, a very well thought out book and a fascinating read.

[Shahiron Sahari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up. Very poorly put together book. The maps alone in the initial chapters were extremely unhelpful. I pity the poor soul that does not already know where Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi or Borneo are on map and trying to find out - he/she would have no chance of knowing where is what. The book is overly ambitious, and this was a case of a million facts in severe need of some organization. Real pity.

[Daniel Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel concept of telling the history of maritime Southeast Asia as a cohesive regional block

[Hari Fitria Utama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sama seperti buku Nusantara karya Vlekke, merupakan buku yang bisa dijadikan awal untuk mempelajari sejarah Asia Tenggara maritim