"Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, encompassing nearly eighteen thousand islands. The fourth-most populous nation in the world, it has a larger Muslim population than any other. The Indonesia Reader is an introduction to this extraordinary country. Assembled for the traveler, student, and expert alike, the Reader includes more than 150 selections: journalists' articles, explorers' chronicles, photographs, poetry, stories, cartoons, drawings, letters, speeches, and more. Many pieces are by Indonesians; some are translated into English for the first time. All have introductions by the volume's editors." "From fifth-century Sanskrit inscriptions in stone to selections related to the 2002 Bali bombings and the 2004 tsunami, The Indonesia Reader conveys the long history and the cultural, ethnic, and ecological diversity of this far-flung archipelago nation."--Jacket.

Early histories -- The Kutei inscriptions in Borneo / Anonymous -- The shadow of India / Upendra Thakur -- The genesis of Indonesian archaeology / R.P. Soejono -- Javanese inscriptions / Himansu Bhusan Sarkar -- What was Srivijaya? / George Cœdès -- Srivijaya revisited / Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h -- Arab navigation in the archipelago / G.R. Tibbetts -- Viewing the Borobudur / Jan Poortenaar -- In praise of Prambanan -- The Nāgarakrtāgama / Mpu Prapañca -- Images Arjuna and Kresna -- Early modern histories -- Ibn Battuta at Pasai / Ibn Battuta -- Chinese Muslims in Java / H.J. de Graaf and Th. F. Pigeaud -- Portuguese sources on products and the Monsoons / Robert Nicholl -- The first Dutch voyage to the Indies, 1596 / Willem Lodewijcksz -- The web of Batik -- An Englishman in Banten / Edmund Scott -- A "harem" in Aceh -- Contract with Banjarmasin / Anonymous -- General missives of the VOC / Anonymous -- Negara: the theatre state in Bali / Clifford Geertz.