Choice Review

A book written by someone with experience both in academia and government service almost always has appeal, and this book is no exception. Ongkili manages to weave together insights that might have been omitted from a purely academic treatment. Unfortunately, too often the Malaysian government's perspective emerges in what seems to be straight historical narrative (most conspicuously on the section involving Singapore's ``separation'' from Malaysia). More seriously, the book could have as easily been written a decade ago and in a foreign library, for it adds very little to the existing literature on the topic. Indeed, students interested in state making and nation building in the region during the period Ongkili treats would probably do better to consult some of the articles and books published during the period by such scholars as R.S. Milne, T.E. Smith, and Robert O. Tilman. The information these authors lacked (e.g., public opinion attitudes towards national identity of Malaysia's different communities) Ongkili also avoids. Consequently, what emerges is a well-written history of the period that breaks no new ground. A book for libraries seeking complete holdings on the region.-J.R. Rudolph, University of Tulsa