Southeast Asia: An Introductory History Book

This is a good, factual overview of the history of Southeast Asia. Osborne covers a lot of ground, giving an overview of the 8 current nations in SE Asia: Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Going all the way back to the 'classical' historic period, through the evolution of their respective societies and up to current time (book published in 2013), which more recently has largely been driven by European colonialism.

The book reads like a textbook and is a bit dull in some parts. However, if looking for a comprehensive history, Osborne does a great job weaving in the history of 8 different nations, ably highlighting the parallels and differences between the different states.

The biggest overarching theme and struggle in is this book is how to present the impact of colonialism. It is (almost painfully) obvious that Osborne is terrified of demeaning local culture and the impact the indigenous people of SE Asia have had on their current societies. Any time Osborne mentions an effect of colonialism, good or bad, he jumps to caveat / hedge any statement to make clear that SE Asia is not a mix of societies solely formed and dominated by Europeans. The result is a balanced view, which does a good job forcing the reader to debate the positive and negative impacts of foreign invasion / domination / exploitation vs. development / technological advancement / investment themselves. I really enjoyed this presentation as it forces the reader to think through complicated questions regarding the legacy of colonialism. This also very much helps clarify the context for current events in the region given most of these countries gained independence / were formed in the modern sense in my parents' lifetime.

I read this before traveling to Malaysia / Asia for two weeks and thought this was an excellent primer on the history of the region. I would not necessarily recommend this as a light, interest read as it is does read like a text book but if you are looking to read up on the region and don't have much of a background, this is a great place to start.