History
Our ignorance of history makes us libel our own times. People have always been like this. -- Gustave Flaubert
Beginners Guide To Censorship
by Julian Petley
ISBN: 9781851686742
Price: SGD 28.00 (w/o GST) July 2009
History - B Paperback, 224 pp
Oneworld Publication
Offering a potted history of the phenomenon from the execution of Socrates in 399BC to the latest in internet filtering, Petley provides an impassioned manifesto for freedom of speech. Also explaining how media monopolies and moguls censor by limiting what news/entertainment they impart, this is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in global media in the information age.
Naga Cities Of The Mekong :
A Guide To The Temples, Legends And History Of Laos
by Martin Stuart-Fox
ISBN: 9789810559236
Price: SGD 35.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback, 124 pp
Media Masters
This is the first book that provides a popular guide to the fascinating story of Laos. Drawing on his extensive research, the acclaimed historian of Laos, Professor Emeritus Martin Stuart-Fox, has written an authoritative text that weaves together centuries of history and legend. His account tells of cities built, destroyed and resurrected. Naga Cities of the Mekong focuses on the three Lao capitals situated along the mighty Mekong River - Luang Phrabang in the north, Viang Chan (Vientiane) in the centre and Champasak in the south. Stuart-Fox traces the fortunes of each capital from the legend-rich founding, their years under French colonialism, through the people's struggle for independence, war and revolution, on to the creation of contemporary Lao state. He also includes vivid descriptions of magnificent temples and tells of the unwavering Lao belief in the ever-vigilant nagas, mythical protectors of the Lao.
The arresting pictures that accompany this lively study are by former Time-Life photographer, Steve Northup.
Slaughter and Deception at Batang Kali
by Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor
ISBN: 9789810813031
Price: SGD 28.00 (w/o GST)
History - C Paperback, 228 pp
Media Masters
No one has ever denied that a mass killing of Chinese plantation workers resulted when a patrol of Scots Guards raided a Malayan rubber estate near the township of Batang Kali in early December, 1948. This fact could never be fully suppressed, not even in the slaughter's immediate aftermath. But then followed an elaborate programme of concealment instigated by senior officers within Britain's military High Command in Kuala Lumpur. They worked in close collaboration with top colonial police and civil admimistrators. The overall effect of the cover-up's imposition and the immediate political support it achieved in Westminster ensured that the full Batang Kali story remained undisclosed.
The Britannica Guide to India
A Comprehensive Introduction to the World's Fastest Growing Country
Introduction by Maria Misra
ISBN: 9781845298203
Price: SGD30.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Constable & Robinson
The most comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the people, history, culture and future of India. Designed to be read by travellers, students and general readers alike.
A Brief History of The Dynasties Of China
by Bamber Gascoigne
ISBN: 9781841197913
Price: SGD22.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback, 240 pp
Constable & Robinson
Although China's great empire lasted for longer than any other, no country has suffered so great an imbalance between the fame of its art and obscurity of its history. The names of the great dynasties are familiar, yet who can actually locate a T'ang horse or a Ming vase in its social or cultural context? By focusing on the key colourful characters of the eight major dynasties, Bamber Gascoigne brings to life 3500 years of Chinese civilization. His bird's-eye view starts on the borders of myth. It moves swiftly on to the greatest achievements of language and thought, the cultural treasures and imperial palaces, wars won and lands lost to the Mongols, finally to arrive at the 1912 Revolution, which contained within it the seeds of Communism that ensured the overthrow of the last emperor. Via this portrait of an empire and its peoples he has opened the door to a world for too long inaccessible to the West
The Long March
by Ed Jocelyn
ISBN: 9781845292553
Price: SGD22.00 (w/o GST)
History - B Paperback, 368 pp
Constable & Robinson
The truth at last about the legendary journey that made Mao's China
Ousted !by Patrick Keith
ISBN: 97898105386501
Price: SGD25.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Media Masters
Ousted! is the first book entirely dedicated to the climactic story of Singapore’s expulsion from Malaysia in the complex and chaotic political gyrations of that tumultuous period. The author gives deserving space for the key leaders involved – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Lee Kuan Yew and the then president of the MCA, Tan Siew Sin.
Chin Peng : My Side of Historyby Ian Ward
ISBN: 9789810486938
Price: SGD35.00 (w/o GST)
Biography - Paperback, 527pp
Media Masters
# Available also in Chinese Edition (我方的历史：陈平 ISBN: 9789810520755)
This is the autobiography of the legendary Chin Peng, Malayan communist guerrilla leader in the 12-year jungle war against British and Commonwealth forces from 1948 - 1960.
During what is often referred to as the 'War of the Virgin Soldiers', hundreds of thousands of British and Commonwealth servicemen - Army, Navy and Air Force were dispatched to Malaya and Singapore to participate in the anti-insurgency campaign.
My Side of History stands as a unique and extraordinary historical document from the man who, along with fellow believers, challenged militarily the might of both Japanese and British Empires.
Snaring The Other Tigerby Ian Ward
ISBN: 9789810081256
Price: SGD18.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback, 348 pp
Media Masters
A well-researched, fully documented account of Australia's judicial lynching of her most prized Japanese war crimes suspect. Aided and abetted by the nation's leading politicians, a clique of top military men concocted evidence, installed their own kangaroo court and endeavoured to salve a country's war wounds with a formally sanctioned murder. Two appendices of telling official documents the military of the day withheld from public release accompany this racy and gripping chronicle of appalling vindictiveness that casts a cloud over the much-vaunted Australian concept of 'fair dinkum'.
The Happiness Boxby David Griffin
ISBN: 9789810026547
Price: SGD9.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback, 32 pp
Media Masters
This is a book with a story as good as the story in the book. Many English children were among the civilian prisoners held at Changi jail, on the island's northeastern strip, when Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942. "The Happiness Box" was created for those children by a group of Australian prisoners of war for the Christmas of 1942.
The Killer They Called A Godby Ian Ward
ISBN: 9789810039219
Price: SGD18.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback, 346 pp
Media Masters
This is the true story of the most bizarre and brutal Japanese war criminal of all. He orders the massacre of thousands of Chinese civilians in Singapore and Malaya. He is responsible for the slaughter of thousands more US and Filipino servicemen in the Philippines. But, disguised as a monk, he makes his getaway in the chaotic days following Japan's unconditional surrender from the Japanese military headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. He is chased by the British but is, incredibly, protected by the Americans and re-surfaces to become one of his country's most prominent post-war citizens. He becomes Japan's most popularly elected parliamentarian! The author traces the amazing story from the bloodied beaches of Singapore to its baffling cloak-and-dagger conclusion.
Faces of Courageby Ian Ward
ISBN: 9789810551414
Price: SGD26.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Media Masters
Singapore and The Many-Headed Monsterby Joe Conceicao
ISBN: 9789810578824
Price: SGD18.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Horizon Books
A Number of historians have published academic approaches on the various riots and ethnic and religious disturbances that have taken place in Singapore. "Singapore and the Many-headed Monster" is not one of them. This book is a personal and heart-felt look at the tragic instances when the many-headed monster - riots - reared its ugly heads and marred Singapore's history.The author also writes with compassion about those who were made sacrificial victims; and reads conclusions relevant and imperative for today's living.
Ho Chi Minh - The Missing Years, 1919-1941 by Sophie Quinn-Judge
ISBN: 9789810486495
Price: SGD30.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Horizon Books
This book explores Ho's pre-power political career, from his emergence at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 to his organization of the Viet Minh united front at the start of the Second World War. Using previously untapped sources from Comintern and French intelligence archives, the author examines Ho's life in the light of two interconnecting themes - the origins and institutional development of the Indochinese Communist, and the impact on early Vietnamese communism of political developments in China and the Soviet Union.
Absent Historyby Ban Kah Choon
ISBN: 9789810447885
Price: SGD24.50 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Horizon Books
This book is an account of the multi-faceted activities of the Special Branch as it tackled problems of religious extremism, espionage and sedition from 1915 to 1942. It documents the severe threats to security and stability beneath the placid peacefulness of that period. Drawing upon previously unavailable archival materials, Absent History reveals the often-privileged view that the Special Branch had of the events and strands of
Malayan/Singapore history.
Suharto - Indonesia's Last Sultan by Keith Loveard
ISBN: 9789810414788
Price: SGD25.90 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Horizon Books
Suharto was one of the world's most enduring rulers - some say dictators. If he was a dictator, he was in many respects a benevolent one. He offered Indonesia a deal, by which personal freedoms were restricted in return for a share in economic advancement. Ruling in many ways like a traditional Javanese sultan, Suharto fell from power when he could no longer deliver his side of the deal. With the economy in collapse, a people who had been tolerant suddenly decided it was time for change
The Singapore Chinese Massacre by Ralph Modder
ISBN: 9789810503888
Price: SGD18.00 (w/o GST)
History - Paperback
Horizon Books
After the British Had Surrendered Singapore to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, Lt. Gen. Yamashita, commander of the victorious 25th Army, ordered that male Chinese had to 'register' at various centres. The purpose was to discover 'anti-Japanese elements among the Chinese population', in particular Chinese guerrilla-volunteers who had fought courageously when the Japanese invaded Singapore. Thousands of Chinese were picked out at random by the Kempeitai, the dreaded Japanese secret police. The victims were taken to remote places, mostly beaches and shot.
A Bristish War Crimes Court in Singapore in 1947 sentenced several senior Japanese army officers to death or to long prison terms for their parts in the massacre, also known as 'Sook Ching' Massacre ('Sook Ching' meaning 'purification by purge' Chinese) The Japanese had admitted that 5,000 were executed while there were claims the number was about 50,000. The actual number is unknown.
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