تاریخچه‌ای کوتاه از بالی: قلمرو هندو در اندونزی (سری تاریخچه‌ای کوتاه از آسیا)

Like Geoffrey Robinson's "Dark side of paradise", this book is one of the very few I read more than once and that I had to buy again because I gave my copy away. Pringle explains in his preface that he discovered that no history of Bali had yet been written and subsequently set out to fill in that gap. The book is very thoroughly documented which inevitably led Pringle to Leiden, Holland where the most important sources of Indonesian history are to be found, so apparently he masters the Dutch language which is quite remarkable. Being a Dutchman myself and having studied topics of Dutch colonial history in the same places, I can only be impressed by the skills of Pringle and Robinson. For the episode of transition from Sukarno to Suharto and the atrocities that came with it, Pringle relied - as he acknowledges - heavily on Robinson's studies. The book gives a nicely written account of the Balinese ancient and recent history up to the 'Kuta bombing' The book is a must for anyone interested in Indonesian history. It should be on the shelf of every Balinese and therefore deserves to be tranlated into Indonesian. It is always a sad discovery that these people don't know their own past. The joke says that Suharto taught his people hisstory. Pringle mentions a document that is considered by the Balinese as their ancient constitution. What he does not relate is that a copy of it is kept by a Dutch institution and that the Balinese Minister of culture recently suggested that it would be given back to the people who morally own it: the Balinese. The Dutch curator agreed that the Balinese are entitled to it but added: "If your offspring will come here in 300 years time they will still find it here and can study it; if I give it back it will not even take 5 years to disappear". New in the Short History of Asia series, edited by Milton Osborne, this is a highly accessible, beautifully illustrated short history of Bali from the Bronze Age to the 2002 bombing.Two million tourists visit Bali every year. Many want to know more about the island, its often turbulent past, and the forces that have shaped its universally appealing culture. This lively and informative concise history is for them, and for others interested in a unique but important province of Indonesia.A Short History of Bali covers the entire history of this intriguing and mysterious island, from before the Bronze Age to the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri and the tragedy of the Kuta bombings on 12 October 2002. It looks at the arrival of Indian culture, early European contact, the role of anthropologists and taste-makers of the 1930s in romanticising the island, and the complex legacies of Dutch control. It tells of the Japanese Occupation, the Indonesian Revolution, the massacres of 1965-66, and the onset of mass tourism under the Soeharto regime. Finally, it looks at recent economic progress, as well as its flip side - environmental problems generated by population growth and massive tourist development. It also draws on Balinese opinion about the meaning of the island's past and its future in the new Indonesian democracy.A Short History of Bali is an important insight into the complicated and surprising history of one of Asia's most captivating societies. "A Short History of Bali covers the entire history of this intriguing and mysterious island, from before the Bronze Age to the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri and the tragedy of the Kuta bombings on 12 October 2002. It looks at the arrival of Indian culture, early European contact, the role of anthropologists and taste-makers of the 1930s in romanticising the island, and the complex legacies of Dutch control. It tells of the Japanese Occupation, the Indonesian Revolution, the massacres of 1965-66, and the onset of mass tourism under the Soeharto regime. Finally, it looks at recent economic progress, as well as its flip side - environmental problems generated by population - growth and massive tourist development. It also draws on Balinese opinion about the meaning of the island's past and its future in the new Indonesian democracy."--Page 4 de la couverture "A Short History of Bali covers the entire history of this intriguing and mysterious island, from before the Bronze Age to the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri and the tragedy of the Kuta bombings on 12 October 2002. It looks at the arrival of Indian culture, early European contact, the role of anthropologists and taste-makers of the 1930s in romanticising the island, and the complex legacies of Dutch control. It tells of the Japanese Occupation, the Indonesian Revolution, the massacres of 1965-66, and the onset of mass tourism under the Soeharto regime. Finally, it looks at recent economic progress, as well as its flip side - environmental problems generated by population - growth and massive tourist development. It also draws on Balinese opinion about the meaning of the island's past and its future in the new Indonesian democracy."--Jacket

Covering the history of Bali from before the Bronze Age to the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri, this examination highlights the ethnic dynamics of the island and its place in modern Indonesia. Included is an analysis of the arrival of Indian culture, early European contact, and the complex legacies of Dutch control. Also explored are the island's contemporary economic progress and the environmental problems generated by population growth and massive tourist development.