In this significant reinterpretation of Sarawak history, John Walker explores the network of power, economic, and ritual relationships that developed on the northwest coast of Borneo in the mid-nineteenth century, from which a coalition led by James Brooke established the state of Sarawak.
Where many authors placed Brooke in the context of nineteenth-century British imperialism, this study perceived him in the context of Bornean cultures and political economies. Brooke emerges from the historical record as a man of prowess, with the author identifying important ritual sources of Brooke's power among Malays, Bidayuh, and Iban--sources that derived from and expressed indigenous cultural traditions about fertility, health, and status.For sale in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand by NUS (Singapore) Press