In this unique compilation of personal essays by a group of eminent historians specializing in Southeast Asia, Wang Gungwu, John Gullick, Cheah Boon Kheng, Ruth McVey, and the editor comment on the reasons behind their choice of specialization, and how they pursued their research interests, academic careers, and writing on their chosen topics. The also comment on the development of this field of specialization and the future that awaits it. These intimate and highly readable accounts, mainly semiautobiographical in nature, are illuminating and reveal many “trade secrets”. This is a companion volume to New Perspectives and Research on Malaysian History, a collection of essays on Malaysian historiography also published by the MBRAS.
Contents
- Introduction by Nicholas Tarling
- A British View of Thailand and Southeast Asia by Nigel Brailey
- Forty-one years in the fields: A Backward glance by David P. Chandler
- How I got into Malaysian History by Cheah Boon Kheng
- An Amateur Historian by John Gullick
- Chance and Circumstances: A Gradual Journey towards Asian studies by John D. Legge
- Becoming An Indonesianist – but an unbecoming historian by Jamie Mackie
- Imagining Southeast Asia by Ruth T. McVey
- A Life with Vietnam by David Marr
- The call of Southeast Asian History by Ian Nish
- Serendipity, or discovering Lao History by Martin Stuart-Fox
- Down Chancery Lane by Nicholas Tarling
- Reflections of a Pioneer by Ken Tregonning
- The Pull of Southeast Asia by Wang Gungwu
- My Involvement in Thai historical studies by Yoneo Iishi
- ‘Politics in Command’: Studying Chinese leadership in British Malaya by Yong Ching Fatt
- Select Bibliography
