This revised and updated edition of the Chronicle of Malaysia brings the full dramatic sweep of Malaysia's history up to date, taking the reader through the nation's first 50 years from the formation of Malaysia in 1963 all the way to 2013. It is packed with illustrated news stories covering hundreds of the nation's key social, political, cultural and sporting events. As a compendium of all aspects of Malaysian life, the book captures the mood of the day with a sense of vividness and immediacy. Concise, accessible articles—revised and rewritten to engage today's readers—are introduced by headlines and liberally illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned cartoons. The book is structured chronologically, with an average of eight pages devoted to each year beginning with a succinct summary of the year's key events. A host of themes are covered: not just the major political and economic events but also the human side of the Malaysian experience—sports, fashion, music, the arts, architecture, lifestyle, disasters, crime and the social scene. These combine to give readers the feel of each era of Malaysia's past and enables them to draw parallels with the present.

The Chronicle of Malaysia captures the full dramatic sweep of Malaysia's history, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour through the nation's first 50 years.

Before Raffles, before Rajah Brooke, there was Francis Light, the 18th-century trailblazer in the Malay Archipelago. The 18th-century Straits of Malacca is in crisis, beleaguered by the Dutch, the Bugis, and the clash between Siam and Burma. Enter Francis Light, devious manipulator of the status quo, joined by a cast of real historical figures from the courts of Siam and Kedah and from the East India Company, including Sultan Muhammed Jiwa, King Tak Sin, Warren Hastings and Martinha Rozells, a young Eurasian woman of noble birth. From humble origins in Suffolk, England, Light struggles against the social prejudices of his day. His subsequent adventures as a naval officer and country ship captain take him from India to Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca to Siam, through shipwreck, sea battles, pirate raids and tropical disease. But Light’s most difficult challenge is his ultimate dream: to establish a British port in the Indies on behalf of the East India Company. Dragon, the first volume of Penang Chronicles, charts Francis Light’s colourful adventures in the decades before the settlement of Penang island, the Honourable Company’s first possession on the Malay Peninsula.

A translation from Dai Yuen of one of the major versions of the Chronicle of Chiang Mai, a major city in northern Thailand, which was the capital of Lanna Thai, a former kingdom in northern Thailand.