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Title: Maritime Southeast Asia to 1500 (Sources and Studies in World History) by Lynda Norene Shaffer, Kevin Reilly ISBN: 1-56324-144-7 Publisher: M.E.Sharpe Pub. Date: January, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: An Excellent Southeast Asia "Middle History" Primer
Comment: This book is best used as a primer for that era of what I call Southeast Asian "middle history," that is, the period after ancient history (best covered by Coedes, Keyes, and others) and before the more or less 'modern' histories of Southeast Asia after the arrival of Islam and Southeast Asia's relative 'opening' to the rest of the world. This is the period after the Indianization of most of mainland and maritime Southeast Asia and the onset regular oceangoing capability yet before the arrival of Islam, closely followed by Western colonization. The foreword describes the book as "a history of maritime Southeast Asia for world historians." The book is best used an introductory volume for 100/200-level university Southeast Asian history courses, as it is short (a total of only 121 pages), and is not heavily weighed down by extended academic context or discussion. It moves quickly and competently through its subjects.

The book starts well with an introduction defining maritime Southeast Asia (and other terms and ideas) and describing the physical and geographic context in which the book is set. Shaffer also describes the early influence of coastal China, the Malay sailors, and the overall ethnic/cultural seascape in which Southeast Asian maritime commerce and travel began. Shaffer then follows with chapters on coastal China/Funnan up to 500 (CE), Srivijaya from 683 to 1025, central Java from 700 to 1025, East Java from 927 to 1222, and Singsari (1222-1292) and Majapahit (1292-1528). She then finishes with a transitional conclusion on "the establishment of Muslim Mataram," a brief discussion of the rise of Islam in maritime Southeast Asia and its wide-ranging effects, better studied and in greater detail in Anthony Reid's "The Land Below the Winds" and others.

The text is simple and easy to follow, and flows well despite Shaffer's use of parenthetical citation. These frequent citations and other parenthetical references to figures and illustrations are very useful for the scholar, and do not impede enjoyment of the book for a casual reader.

There are nine maps and fifteen pages of photographs and drawings. They are very good to put Shaffer's narrative into context, to get the flavor of Indian, Buddhist, Hindu, and other influences in Southeast Asia. These illustrations reinforce the book as a good introduction to the early years of Southeast Asian history. Some of the maps are quite rudimentary, and could have been much more clear, detailed, and annotated, but for the purposes of this book they are certainly adequate.

The bibliography is quite good, a great place for students to find additional references, a great starting point for research based on the book's subjects/issues. At 7 ½ pages, it is a larger bibliography than one would expect from the length of the text itself. It is good to see George Coedes, D.G.E. Hall, Anthony Reid, Laurie Sears, Nicholas Tarling (ed.), Paul Wheatley, and others cited. Shaffer's book is a short-but not shallow-introduction, and this bibliography establishes her points of reference. Knowing a number of these authors/scholars, there is some bias in their respective works, but nothing far out of the mainstream, and these references' arguments do not come through strongly in Shaffer's text.

The index is sufficient to reference the book, but could be better. There are a number of geographical place names and proper names in the text and in the maps that are not listed in the index. The text and titles of the illustrations/figures are referenced in index, which is a conscientious effort.

All in all, this is a handy reference for the Southeast Asian scholar, and it is a simple, straightforward, and non-intimidating book for the beginning student of Southeast Asia, or those curious about what the author says is a "neglected" region of world history. I recommend the book.