This collection of essays places the Straits of Singapore and Melaka and their surrounding regions in a larger pattern of world trade and international diplomacy between of approximately 1500-1800. The contributions contained in this volume address a range of interdisciplinary issues pertaining to the presence and expansion of Portuguese and Spanish infl uence across the region. The authors draw on a wide range of source material in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Chinese, making some of them accessible to an English language readership for the fi rst time. From the table of contents (8...