A fairly short (about 200 pages) but very succinct and comprehensive history of Malay. One of the most helpful things about this book is that it at least dedicates a respectable portion of the book, about 80 pages, to the period before British colonial rule – a time which is rather shrouded in mystery. Included in Chapter 7 are lists of the Sultans of Johor and Bugis minor royalty, who ruled in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Contents:
- The Stone Age and the First Malayans
- Relations with China and India, 300 B.C – A.D. 1400
- The Sultanate of Malacca
- The Coming of the Portuguese
- Portuguese Malacca and the Malay States
- The Dutch Period
- The Malay States in the 17th and 18th centuries
- The Foundations of the Straits Settlements
- The Straits Settlements as a Dependency of India
- The Residential System in the Malay States
- Modern Malaya: The Governments, The People and the Social Services 1895-1941
- Modern Malay: Economic Changes, 1895-1941
- War and Peace, 1941-1948
- The Road to Independence
