You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Street names are a many-layered thing – crystallising various eras of history and celebrating multiple generations of people. As the federal capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur’s street names reflect its rich mix of cultures and its journey from colonial past to nationhood. This encyclopedic A-to-Z guide explains the meanings and origins of KL’s street names – those named after notable persons, after prominent landmarks, after local flora and fauna, etc. Themed street names within a particular area are also identified, e.g. the cluster of streets in Taman Sri Bahtera named after traditional Malay boats. Of particular interest is the renaming of streets over the years, ranging from literal translations (e.g. “Church Road” becoming “Jalan Gereja”), to completely new names (“Parry Road” to “Jalan P Ramlee”). Drawing on extensive research into the National Archives, the authors present their wealth of findings in a concise and easy-to-read way that will engage readers of all levels.
Before Raffles, before Rajah Brooke, there was Captain Francis Light. It is 1790. Penang’s meteoric rise from deserted island to thriving port continues at astonishing pace. Fortunes are made in shipping, commerce and plantations; settlers flock in from the region and beyond. But paradise comes at a price: the Dutch and French have set their sights on the island; the Sultan of Queddah rages at the treachery of the British. Penang must fortify and prepare for war. Ultimately, however, it is disease and disasters both natural and manmade that prove the greatest challenge. As Francis Light battles on, his wife Martinha must learn for herself how to negotiate the murky waters of colonial prejudice and corruption for the sake of her family. Emporium is Volume III in Penang Chronicles, which tells the backstory of the establishment of the British settlement of Penang in Malaysia.
The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels. The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation. Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects. The Collected Critical Heritage set will be available as a set of 68 volumes and the series will also be available in mini sets selected by period (in slipcase boxes) and as individual volumes.
The Malayan Emergency of 1948–1960 has been scrutinised for 'lessons' about how to win counterinsurgencies from the Vietnam War to twenty-first century Afghanistan. This book brings our understanding of the conflict up to date by interweaving government and insurgent accounts and looking at how they played out at local level. Drawing on oral history, recent memoirs and declassified archival material from the UK and Asia, Karl Hack offers a comprehensive, multi-perspective account of the Malayan Emergency and its impact on Malaysia. He sheds new light on questions about terror and violence against civilians, how insurgency and decolonisation interacted and how revolution was defeated. He considers how government policies such as pressurising villagers, resettlement and winning 'hearts and minds' can be judged from the perspective of insurgents and civilians. This timely book is the first truly multi-perspective and in-depth study of anti-colonial resistance and counterinsurgency in the Malayan Emergency.