Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680: Volume One: The Lands Below the Winds

By Anthony Reid

Book Overview

In The Lands below the Winds-the first volume of a two-volume set chronicling the rise of Southeast Asian culture during the years from 1450 to 1680-Anthony Reid vividly explores everyday life in the different societies of the region, from diet, housing, commerce, and law to sexual and family relations, patterns of warfare, and popular entertainment. In so doing he enables us to perceive the underlying coherence and splendid variety in the complex mosaic of Southeast Asia. "Anyone interested in Southeast Asian history should read, teach, and learn from this enthralling, fastidious book."-David P. Chandler, Journal of Asian Studies "There is nothing that catches better the general look of things on the eve of European hegemony or evokes more effectively what Southeast Asia was like when Southeast Asians themselves bestrode it."-Clifford Geertz, New York Review of Books "An outstandingly readable example of its genre, a superb unrhetorical portrayal of its society and period. One can scarcely wait for the sequel."-E.L. Jones, Asian Studies Association of Australia Review "A model of 'total history.' The level of synthesis, judgment, and insight are so high as to entirely reconstruct our understanding of pre-colonial Southeast Asia."-James C. Scott, Yale University "It is the most important study in the field for many years; it is likely to set the agenda for research in the field for many years to come."-Norman Owen, All Asia Review of Books

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300047509
• ISBN13: 9780300047509
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great cultural history

A book assigned in many graduate courses on Southeast Asian history, "The land below the winds", gives the student an interesting look at day to day life in Southeast Asia from the arrival of the Western Europeans(1450-1680). Painstakingly researched, the book enjoys pointing out that in many ways the SE Asians had much more modern cultural practices than the "smelly" Europeans. Reid explores in each chapter seperate cultural criteria such as: physical well-bieng, material culture, social organization and lastly festivals and amusements. A myriad of topics are covered from sexual ambiguity and practices to military combat and diplomacy. Interesting tid bits abound and the book makes good reading for both the student and general reader. This is the best of the current offerings in the field and I highly recommend it.