A History of Brunei

The only full-length study of the Brunei Sultanate from the earliest times to the present. First published in 1994 and a sell-out success, RoutledgeCurzon is pleased to present this new edition, updated to the present. Saunders skilfully elucidates historiographical controversies over important events, persons and developments in Brunei's past which are still important issues in defining Brunei's identity and its political and social systems today. These controversies, over the antecedents of the Sultanate, the date of the conversion to Islam, the reigns of the early sultans, early contacts with Europeans and others, retain their relevance. Newly presented are interpretations of events since 1945 during the transition from protected state to full independence, and thence to the present Malay Islamic Monarchy.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Figure Maps Plates Abbreviations Introduction Part I From Earliest Times to the Creation of the Sultanate 1. The Earliest Kingdoms 2. Pre-Islamic Brunei Part II The Rise and Decline of the Brunei Thalassocracy 3. The Early Muslim Sultanate to c.1550 4. A Century of Conflict c.1550-c.1650 5. Stagnation and Decline c.1650-c.1770 Part III Brunei, the British, and the Brookes, c.1770-1906 6. The Struggle for Survival c.1770-1870 7. Almost terminal Decline, 1870-1906 Part IV The Residency, 1906-1959 8. Brunei Preserved: The Presidency from Its Establishment to 1941 9. The Japanese Interregnum and the Last Years of the Residency, 1941-1959 Part V From protected State to Full Independence 10. Rebellion, Malaysia, and Abdication, 1959-1967 11. Reluctant Independence, 1967-1984 12. The First Decade of Independence Glossary Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Graham Saunders taught history in Sarawak and Brunei for twenty years. He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Hull, a member of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Borneo Research Council. He is an Associate Lecturer in Pacific Studies with the Open University.

Review :
'Dr. Saunders...provides many insights and, as an introduction to the state-of-the-art, it would be very difficult to improve upon A History of Brunei.' - Asian Affairs 'He (Dr. Saunders) provides a fine exposition of Brunei's early history and the source materials upon which it is based. He makes clear what he regards as factual, but does not neglect alternative interpretations. He demonstrates why certain myths have come to be believed in the sultanate and gives reasons for rejecting the historicity of those beliefs.' - A.V.M Horton , Asian Affairs 'Dr. Saunders...provides many insights and, as an introduction to the state-of-the-art, it would be very difficult to improve upon A History of Brunei.' - Asian Affairs 'He (Dr. Saunders) provides a fine exposition of Brunei's early history and the source materials upon which it is based. He makes clear what he regards as factual, but does not neglect alternative interpretations. He demonstrates why certain myths have come to be believed in the sultanate and gives reasons for rejecting the historicity of those beliefs.' - A.V.M Horton, Asian Affairs