A coherent and comprehensive narrative of the functioning and implications of regional and international economic developments on Southeast Asian social organization in the pre-modern era that has hitherto not been attempted. . . . An important contribution to the field of Southeast Asian studies as well as global history and international studies.

Journal Of Economic and Social History Of The Orient

This book is a most valuable contribution, especially as it covers a period that few know well and that no one else is trying to synthesize into such an overall work. Hall not only provides a much-needed economic and political analysis of his own and others' scholarship on the varied parts of Asia, he puts it all-islands and mainland-into a thoughtful interpretive framework that advances our study of Southeast Asia considerably.

John Whitmore, University of Michigan