A Brief History of Indonesia

Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of Southeast Asia's Largest Nation

By: Tim Hannigan

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Indonesia is by far the largest nation in Southeast Asia and has the fourth-largest population in the world after the United States. Indonesian history and culture are especially relevant today as the island nation is an emerging power in the region with a dynamic new leader. It is a land of incredible diversity and unending paradoxes that has a long and rich history stretching back a thousand years and more.

Indonesia is the fabled "Spice Islands" of every school child's dreams - one of the most colorful and fascinating countries in history. These are the islands that Europeans set out on countless voyages of discovery to find and later fought bitterly over in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. This was the land that Christopher Columbus sought, and Magellan actually reached and explored. One tiny Indonesian island was even exchanged for the island of Manhattan in 1667!

This fascinating history book tells the story of Indonesia as a narrative of kings, traders, missionaries, soldiers, and revolutionaries, featuring stormy sea crossings, fiery volcanoes, and the occasional tiger.

©2015 Tim Hannigan (P)2019 Tantor

Very Deeply Informative

This is a great book for folks who don't know much about asian history

Informative and engaging

An excellent presentation of the history of Indonesia. The flow if the content and narration is captivating and provides balanced historical insights.

A much-needed, accessible history of Indonesia

Indonesia is the fourth-largest country in the world by population and has a fascinating history. Its importance will continue to grow on the world stage. But it's hard to find an accessible, non-academic history of the country. This book addresses this problem with a very listenable narrative that does not require a background in Southeast Asian history. If you are interested in Indonesian history from prehistory to the present, this book is a great place to start. The writing and narration are smooth and do not demand concentration from the listener. The book generally sticks to facts and avoids interpretation. You won't find much here on topics like the injustices of colonialism or speculation about foreign involvement in the 1965 coup. But the book does provide a solid grounding in Indonesian history that will be useful as you explore other sources on the country.

Amazing book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book it made me feel as if I were living in the country throughout the different areas of its history

More Indonesian history please Audible

History books on Indonesian history are pretty much non-existant on Audible so I was pleasantly surprised to see this title become available. It's not a bad general overview and works well as a introduction to Indonesian history for non-scholars. The narration is fine as well. Hopefully we'll be seeing more Indonesian (and south-east Asian) history on Audible in the future.