Historical Dictionary of Indonesia (Asian Historical Dictionaries, No. 9) (Hardcover)

~ Robert Cribb (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Indonesia is Asia's third largest country in both population and area, a sprawling tropical archipelago of some 180 million people form hundreds of ethnic groups with a complex and turbulent history. One of Asia's newly industrializing countries, it is already a major economic powerhouse. In over 800 clear and succinct entries, the dictionary covers people, places, and organizations, as well as economics, culture, and political thought from Indonesia's ancient history up until the recent past. With comprehensive bibliography, maps, chronology, list of abbreviations, and appendix of election results and major office-holder.

About the Author

Robert Cribb teaches Southeast Asian history at the University of Queenland in Brisbane, Australia. He has written extensively on recent Indonesian history; his publications include "The Politics of Environmental Protection in Indonesia" (1988) and "Gangsters and Revolutionaries: The Jakarta People's Militia and the Indonesian Revolution, 1945-1949" (1991).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 663 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press; 1st edition (May 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810825422
• ISBN-13: 978-0810825420
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,702,236 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Invaluable Reference for the Indonesia Student/Scholar, February 20, 2001

By	Sir Charles Panther "Life is hard. It's hard... (Alexandria, Virginny, USandA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

First of all, many thanks to Scarecrow Press for its Asian Historical Dictionary series. These are fantastic references.

This volume is now eclipsed by the new edition. Haven't yet seen the new edition, but I anticpate many updated and new entries since the 1990-92 work done on this still-useful resource.

This is not to say this book is perfect. For a country as abbrevation- and acronym-dependent as Indonesia is, this abbreviation/acronym list is woefully inadequate. This being said, a comprehensive abbreviation/acronym listing is not practicable as acronym dictionaries available in Indonesia are themselves hundreds of pages long. What is needed is a much more in depth compilation, edited for use primarily by foreign students and scholars.

The map section is also disappointing. For a reference costing as much as this does, the maps should be full-color glossies, better annotated, and more detailed. The best solution would be fold-out maps to best show the detail that is needed to complement such a fine reference.

The dictionary portion is excellent, very well cross-referenced, with thorough entries for each item. The numerous appendices are also superb, with leadership and governmental ministers listings for the colonial period as well as the post-revolution period.

The true gem of this dictionary is the 118-page bibliography, listing other references and bibliographies, works sorted by discipline and subject, as well as important periodicals and journals.

This has been and will continue to be an indispensable part of my Southeast Asia/Indonesia collection. Although overtaken by the new edition, this is an unparalleled reference, an essential tool for the Indonesia student and scholar.

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive compilation of people, places and events , September 8, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Historical Dictionary of Indonesia (Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East) (Hardcover)

Drawing upon their rather impressive expertise, Robert Cribb (Senior Fellow, Australian National University, Canberra) and Audrey Kahin (Managing Editor of Southeast Asia publications at Cornell and editor of the journal "Indonesia" from 1978 to 1995), provide students and non-specialist general readers alike with a comprehensive compilation of people, places and events in the social, political, religious, and economic history of the tropical archipelago that is Indonesia (Asia's third largest country in both population and geography). Now in an updated second edition, Historical Dictionary Of Indonesia pre-sents its wealth of in-depth researched information in easy-to-look-up alphabetical entries, from "adat" (indigenous customary laws) to "Zeven Provincien, mutiny of the" referring to the ill-fated 1933 protest aboard the Dutch naval vessel De Zeven Provincien. Supplements include several maps, lists of common acronyms for easy reference, appendices that list governors and rulers, electoral performance of the parties from 1945 to 1999, and much more. An all-around excellent, easy to use general reference.