The violence directed against the political left in Indonesia from 1965 until 1968 has been the subject of intense speculation. The large number of deaths, brutal interrogations, as well as rape, torture, short- and long-term detention and on-going discrimination inflicted on hundreds of thousands of people make this a compelling topic. However, political sensitivities within Indonesia and a dearth of evidence made serious research on the topic extremely difficult under the New Order regime. The Contours of Mass Violence in Indonesia presents case studies from diverse locations throughout...

Under the New Order regime (1967-98), the Indonesian military sought to monopolise the production of official history and control its contents. The goal was to validate the political role of the armed forces, condemn communism and promote military values. In this detailed examination of the Indonesian military's image-making efforts, Katharine E. McGregor explores the formulation of nationalist history under Suharto, and shows how this effort affected the Indonesian people. The study highlights the role of the Armed Forces History Centre and its chief historian, Nugroho Notosusanto, in...