First Published in 1974. Throughout this title two interweaving and interacting themes are apparent. One is the changes resulting from the increasingly important role of politics and politicians in states which until 1963 had been colonies. Politics is, as it were, superimposed on administration. The other is the impact of the Federal Government. From 1963 onwards Sarawak and Sabah were changing because they were “new states”. A short bibliography includes a section on Malaya/Malaysia, which is necessary because this book studies a rather unusual form of the problem of political development as Sarawak and Sabah are not independent countries.

Administrators and their Service is a historical study of the Sarawak Administrative Service.

A significant reinterpretation of Sarawak history, Power and Prowess 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 perceives 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 Ibans, sources which derived from and expressed indigenous cultural traditions about fertility, health and status. Drawing on conceptual frameworks from political science, as well as recent southeast Asian historiography, Power and Prowess offers a detailed political history of the period and new interpretations of Brooke's career. This study also retrieves from the historical sources previously concealed narratives which reflect the interests, priorities and activities of Sarawak people themselves. J.H. WALKER lectures in political science at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Based on archival records as well as oral histories, this book reconstructs the pioneering history of the early Chinese settlers in Sarawak. While much scholarship has focused on urban Chinese settlements, Chew tells the story of the Chinese who moved to the rural areas--those who traded with the Ibans and other tribes, or were recruited to work in the coal mines and oil fields.