Bowring, in a remarkable display of taut writing, whisks us through the archipelago's geological eruption and mythic floods to the rise and fall of multiple port states and emerging regional dynasties and into the modern era of disruption, decay and dismemberment in less than 300 pages. At the same time, he does a wonderful demolition job on Beijing's self-serving take on Asian history. * South China Morning Post *
[Bowring] writes this rich and rambling history as in fact a narrative of change and renewal ... It is not easy to convince policymakers that history might be the place to look for solutions, yet we have nowhere else to turn to imagine what might yet be possible. * Literary Review *
Beautifully presented with numerous informative maps, excellent illustrations and a very useful glossary, it is both a fascinating read and a very valuable history of one of the world's most important regions. * Baird Maritime *
Rich in detail, and laced with vivid anecdotes ... Bowring notes that Nusantaria is just as vulnerable to climate change as it was after the Ice Age ... will the book's excellent maps of Nusantaria have to be drawn again? * The Correspondent *
This hardcover book is handsomely produced with a beautiful dust jacket showing fine Nusantarian galleys in the Moluccas, recorded during the Louis de Freycinet expedition of 1817-20. It's a volume that offers readers a deeper understanding of the vibrant maritime peoples and events that unfolded literally on Australia's tropical northern doorstep, to better appreciate the complex development of the human, political and economic region that we inhabit. * Jeffrey Mellefont, New Mandela *
This is an important and timely book. Whatever its shortcomings as formal history-and Philip Bowring states clearly that he is no specialist and no academic-for the suitably forewarned general reader at whom it is aimed, who is looking to better understand a complex and pivotal region of the modern world, Empire of the Winds is a must-read. * Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong *
Bowring has taken on the mission of restoring to its rightful place in world history a region that shaped global trade, and with its unrivalled shipbuilding techniques and navigation skills drew disparate cultures - and their ideas and know-how - together across vast oceans, and whose contribution to humankind's domi nion over this planet's resources has been largely forgotten. * Post Magazine *
