General Suharto is synonymous with modern Indonesia. He became President amidst extreme social upheaval and mass violence in 1966 and retained his position until 1998. In this book R.E. Elson provides insights into a man who exerted extraordinary power and influence, presented himself as an infallible father of the nation, yet remained mysterious. Suharto sought to transform Indonesia into a strong, united and economically prosperous nation-state, yet after half a century of influence, he is remembered as much for extensive human rights abuse and unprecedented corruption. As Indonesia emerges...

General Suharto is synonymous with modern Indonesia. He became President amidst extreme social upheaval and mass violence in 1966 and retained his position until 1998. In this book R.E. Elson provides insights into a man who exerted extraordinary power and influence, presented himself as an infallible father of the nation, yet remained mysterious. Suharto sought to transform Indonesia into a strong, united and economically prosperous nation-state, yet after half a century of influence, he is remembered as much for extensive human rights abuse and unprecedented corruption. As Indonesia emerges...

Indonesia the nation-state is a miraculous and unlikely construction. At first sight, the material for national unity could not be more unpromising; its history is marred by deep and often bloody internal disputation based on ideology, ethnicity, religion, and region. Yet Indonesia, as concept and as nation-state, endures and is, perhaps, beginning once again to thrive. R. E. Elson, one of the leading figures in the field, seeks to discover the origins of the idea of Indonesia in the mid-nineteenth century and explores its often vexed and troubled trajectory through to the present time. He...