Why read A Brief History of Bali?

Book cover of A Brief History of Bali: Piracy, Slavery, Opium and Guns: The Story of an Island Paradise

Book description

This book tells the story of Bali--the "paradise island of the Pacific"--its rulers and its people, and their encounters with the Western world.

Bali is a perennially popular tourist destination. It is also home to a fascinating people with a long and dramatic history of interactions with foreigners, particularly after…

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Why read it?

1 author picked A Brief History of Bali as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Neill McKee

Author

Bali is known as a peaceful Hindu "paradise” in Asia. But today most tourists are ignorant of its tumultuous history. In my book I travel by sea on a freighter from Singapore to Jakarta, and journey through Java to Bali. Before reading Hanna’s book, I too was largely ignorant of the invasions Bali had experienced before tourists came: centuries of domination by Muslim sultanates; then early 1800s, the Dutch alongside the French; then the British, followed by the Dutch again in 1816. Next, Bali’s people joined the fight for independence before Japan invaded in 1942. The Dutch returned in 1945,…

From Neill's list on The best books about exotic Asian travel and adventures.