List of Maps List of Figures Foreword by Carl A. Trocki Prologue Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Glossary of Asian-Language Terms Timeline 1. Let’s Talk About 1819: Reorienting the National Narrative 2. The Idea of Singapore 3. Singapore Central: The Role of Location in Singapore’s History 4. Governance in Premodern Singapore 5. Governance in Modern Singapore, 1867–1965 6. Governance in Independent Singapore 7. The Economy: Singapore, Still at the Centre 8. Making Modern Singaporeans: People, Society and Place Afterword Notes Bibliography Index
Comprehensive modern history of Singapore, from 16th century to present.
Michael D. Barr is Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Flinders University, Australia. He has recently been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He is Editor-in-Chief of Asian Studies Review and the author of Cultural Politics and Asian Values, Paths Not Taken: Political Pluralism in Post-War Singapore (edited with C. Trocki), Constructing Singapore (with Z. Skrbiš), Lee Kuan Yew, and The Ruling Elite of Singapore: Networks of Power and Influence (I.B.Tauris).
Michael Barr, the leading historian of modern Singapore, examines
[its story] in rich detail.
*London Review of Books*
In this well-researched and clearly argued book, the highly
respected Australian scholar Barr (Flinders Univ., Australia)
challenges the entire “Singapore Story” through a thematically
organized revisionist history of Singapore from its earliest times
into the 21st century … Barr builds his argument on extensive
archival research and mastery of secondary scholarly and popular
publications, including government-issued textbooks that promulgate
the official “Singapore Story.” Summing Up: Highly recommended.
Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
*CHOICE*
Dr. Barr is a very talented writer. His intellect and more nuanced
perspectives come through in this book, in which the content dives
deep into Singapore’s history from a political, geographic, and
economic view … If you want a very real and well-researched
academic historical book, don’t miss out on this one!
*Singapore Politics: Blog*
‘Michael Barr does the study of Singapore a great service with this
path-breaking book. He debunks the ascendant account of Singapore’s
modern history to explain so much more about how and why this
city-state developed as it did. Barr breaks decisively from the
prevailing orthodoxy serving elite political interests to highlight
struggles, forces and dynamics fundamental in shaping modern
Singapore.’
*Garry Rodan, Professor of Politics and International Studies,
Murdoch University*
‘Michael Barr’s “Modern History” of Singapore offers a refreshingly
candid counter-narrative to “The Singapore Story”. Broad, bold and
brazen, Barr’s self-consciously revisionist history of Singapore
breaks away from the dominant meta-narrative of the Singapore state
and its elites. It offers readers a succinct, thematic (and
dramatic) history of Singapore that emphasises the continuities
that transcend the “Founding moment” of 1819 and situate
Singapore’s growth and development within a larger regional and
global framework. This is not a history for data-miners or
squirrels of historical minutiae but for those who seek to better
understand the land, idea and country that is Singapore.’
*Kevin YL Tan, Executive Editor, Asian Journal of Comparative Law
and Professor (Adjunct), Faculty of Law, National University of
Singapore*
Barr offers insights into Singapore history that no other historian
can give scholars and students. Singapore: A Modern History
deserves a prominent place alongside the works of other historians
who have also embarked on this most challenging task of writing a
general history of Singapore.
*Australian Journal of Politics and History*
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