A book largely about the Emergency and Communist threat in Malaya.
From the foreword:
“I shall hope to convince you of three things. One, that the campaign of the bandits in the jungle – correctly but clumsily referred to in official documents as ‘Communist Terrorists’ – does not represent any kind of Malayan nationalist movement. Two, that in the absence of any genuine Malayan loyalty to override the existing racial rivalries between Malay, Chinese and Indian, progress towards self-government is as swift as is sensible. Three, that Malaya, despite the Emergency, is one of the happiest countries in the world, with possibly less colour prejudice than in any other plural society.”
About the author (from Wikipedia):
Charles Vernon Oldfield Bartlett, CBE (30 April 1894, Westbury, Wiltshire – 18 January 1983) was an English journalist, politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1938 to 1950: first as an Independent Progressive advocating a Popular Front, then for the Common Wealth Party, and then again as an Independent Progressive.
He retired from the News Chronicle in 1954 and moved to Singapore, where he was both political commentator for the Straits Times and South East Asia correspondent for the Manchester Guardian.
