| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.2

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Comparative/World

Nicholas Tarling. Britain, Southeast Asia and the Onset of the Cold War, 1945–1950. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1998. Pp. x, 488. $64.95.

The complex relationship between empire and Cold War, which this book attempts to address, remains a vital and relatively unexplored area for imperial and international historians. Within this context, Nicholas Tarling aims to place British policy toward the countries of Southeast Asia in juxtaposition with one another while linking them to the broader international setting. The book succeeds in the first aim but fails in the second. 1

Thoroughly researched and dealing with Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Indochina, the Philippines, and Indonesia, this is a detailed, blow-by-blow account of British policy and British attitudes toward the policies of its partners in the Western alliance. Minute by official minute, every aspect of policy and every official's view of policy and of the character of the protagonists is dutifully recorded. On occasion, the detail becomes overwhelming, and one longs for a glimpse not just of the broader international context but of a more general interpretative framework. Having said that, the portrayal of particular stages and shifts in British policy is often accompanied by perceptive analysis. Thus, the main value of the book is its provision of a lucid explanation of British policy within a regional setting. The concerns about how Dutch and French policy in Indonesia or Indochina affected British or former British territories add a valuable new dimension to the study of Britain's efforts to retain influence in Southeast Asia while wrestling with the problems of transferring power. . . .

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