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slow-paced
The tracing of humans first arrival to Bali and their early years of Hinduization and conflict with Java were quite interesting. As were the details of Bali's initial interactions with Dutch, English, and Chinese traders.
After the first couple of chapters though, the book sank into a quagmire of an unimaginative litany of internal warfare between Balinese kingdoms. Occasionally, some engaging descriptions would emerge of key figures in these struggles and a spark of interest would flash. And then they would be sucked back down into the banal listing of innumerable conflicts.
Of note was both the gradual encroachment of the Dutch and their eventual "control" of the island, which was done mostly through proxy and ceremony. Not quite the straight forward hammer of colonialism that one would expect.
World War 2 and the subsequent Sukarno regime received a seemingly cursory and less equitable review then the earlier history written by Mr. Hanna.
At this point, I had read a 2 star book. However, the epilogue by Tim Hannigan was excellent. He explains the bizarre ending of Hanna's piece and then goes on to provide a concise and informative exposition of Balinese history up through the early 21st century. Of particular note though, is Hannigan's thoughtful evaluation of tourism's impact on Bali. Very well done and quite nuanced. If Mr. Hannigan had written the whole book, it would probably be more like a four star work.
After the first couple of chapters though, the book sank into a quagmire of an unimaginative litany of internal warfare between Balinese kingdoms. Occasionally, some engaging descriptions would emerge of key figures in these struggles and a spark of interest would flash. And then they would be sucked back down into the banal listing of innumerable conflicts.
Of note was both the gradual encroachment of the Dutch and their eventual "control" of the island, which was done mostly through proxy and ceremony. Not quite the straight forward hammer of colonialism that one would expect.
World War 2 and the subsequent Sukarno regime received a seemingly cursory and less equitable review then the earlier history written by Mr. Hanna.
At this point, I had read a 2 star book. However, the epilogue by Tim Hannigan was excellent. He explains the bizarre ending of Hanna's piece and then goes on to provide a concise and informative exposition of Balinese history up through the early 21st century. Of particular note though, is Hannigan's thoughtful evaluation of tourism's impact on Bali. Very well done and quite nuanced. If Mr. Hannigan had written the whole book, it would probably be more like a four star work.
informative
slow-paced
challenging
slow-paced