Malaya and Its History – Richard Winstedt (1948) (1st ed)

S$67.00

Malaya and Its History – Richard Winstedt (1948) (1st ed)

S$67.00

Title: Malaya and Its History
Author: Sir Richard Winstedt
Publisher: Hutchinson’s University Library, no date. Most probably 1948, first edition.
Condition: Hardcover. Good. Some foxing to edges. Text clean, binding tight but sagging slightly. 158pp.

About the book:

An accurate, concise and interesting overview of the history of Malaya, including a description of the peoples of the region. Slightly less than half the book deals with pre-British Malaya, and includes the kingdom of Malacca and the Dutch arrival in the region. Also includes a chapter on the Malayan Union and Singapore.

About the author (from Wikipedia):

He served as first President of Raffles College, Singapore, 1928-1931. During his presidency, he also served as acting Secretary to the High Commissioner, 1923; Director of Education, Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States (FMS), and member of Legislative Council, Straits Settlements, 1924–1931; member of the FMS Federal Council, 1927-1931.

After a term as General Adviser to Johore, 1931–1935, Winstedt retired from the Malayan Civil Service and was appointed lecturer, then reader, and ultimately Honorary Fellow, in Malay at the School of Oriental Studies, where he also served as a member of the Governing Body, 1939-1959. During World War II, he broadcast in Malay to Japanese-occupied Malaya. He retired from active teaching in 1946.

Winstedt served on numerous boards and advisory groups, most notably the Royal Asiatic Society of which he was repeatedly the president and a Gold Medallist in 1947; the Association of British Malaya, of which he was president in 1938; the Colonial Office Advisory Committee on Education, 1936–1939; and the Royal India Society. He was a Fellow of the British Academy, and an Honorary Member of Southeast Asia Institute, Royal Batavian Society, and Kon Instituut voor TaalLanden Volkenkunde.