A Short History of South-East Asia - Softcover

'If one could only have one book on South-East Asian history, this incisive and accessible book will fill the gap admirably. It offer in a nutshell and interesting historical perspective of each country' - Dato Zaid Ibrahim, Member of Parliament for Kato Bharu, Malaysia. 'A Short History of South-East Asia is one of my best references whenever I need to look for factual information and explanation about major events in South-East Asia, covering the most recent period and going back more than a thousand year' - Narongchai Akrasanee, Former Thailand Minister of Commerce. 'Any businessman doing or wanting to do business in SE Asia must understand the history of the area if he is to be successful. The history of each country plays an important part in understanding the country's culture and behaviour. This easily read book provides this invaluable information - ignore it at your peril' - Mike M. Courtnall, President, Asian Building and Manufacturing Markets, BHP Steel Limited.'Succinct, reliable, historical surveys of each state of ASEAN, reaching right up to the present day. Such a country-by-country approach has real value for the business visitor of the tourist moving around this complex region. No one seeking to identify opportunities and dangers in Southeast Asia can ignore the historical processes that shape the different societies' - Anthony Milner, Basham Professor of Asian History, Australian National University.'This authoritative, concise, balanced and accessible history neatly fills the gap between the tourist guides and the weighty academic tomes. It gives the reader an authentic 'feed for history', so necessary to understand the present' - Stephen Grenville, Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia. 'The interpretation of events in this book has managed to capture to a considerable degree Southeast Asian perceptions of its history. To have achieved this in such a brief text is impressive' - Nono Anwar Makarim, Founder and Counsel to Makarim and Taira Chairman, Aksara Foundation, Jakarta.

Peter Church is the managing director and one of the founders of Asean Focus Group (www.aseanfocus.com). He is a lawyer by profession and has spent more than 30 years living and working in the South East Asian region. Peter is corporate adviser to a wide and varied group of Australian, Asian and international companies in relation to their activities in Asia and Australia. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1994 for his services to the promotion of business relations between Australia and the South East Asian region. Founded in 1990 Asean Focus Group (www.aseanfocus.com) is a well established corporate adviser in the markets of Asia and Australia. Asean Focus Group initially focused its activities in the markets of Australia and ASEAN -- namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. However, over the last decade it has increased its coverage to other important Asian markets such as India and China.