[Gaynor] provides a useful reminder that outsiders were not necessarily the leading figures in the maritime life of this region.... The product of extensive research and thought, this book is valuable for scholars of Southeast Asia and its rich maritime life. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, specialists.
Choice
Gaynor has provided an insightful consideration of ... Read morethe dynamics of power, trade, and social relations that points historians to new understandings of societies and ecosystems that usually fall beyond the shore of the academic gaze.... Gaynor weaves a complex depiction of histories and peoples that enlightens the reader not only on this complex ecological land- and seascape, but also on social dynamics that usually fall outside traditional categories of the state and economics in world history.... Intertidal History in Island Southeast Asia is an excellent book, as it is securely rooted, or in this case anchored, in the littoral.... The result is a work that provides a cogent example of the importance of considering the contributions of a wide range of peoples to the construction of the state, as well as of how this can be done by thoroughly scouring the archives for sources in a variety of languages, and by living among and appreciating those peoples' cultures in order to hear the echoes of their pasts that still resonate.
The American Historical Review
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