A revealing reassessment of the American government's position towards Indonesia's struggle for independence.

A Pocket Guide to Netherlands East Indies was originally a 5.25"x4.24" pocket-size booklet released in 1943 for American GIs in World War II on their way to Indo-European countries, including Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, which were near territories occupied and controlled by the Japanese. The pamphlet outlines the role of the soldier, as well as descriptions of the different countries and peoples, their habits and cultures, and the native vegetation and wildlife. The booklet includes a map of the 3,000 countries making up the East Indies, guides to currency, time, measurements, and language, and a list of dos and don'ts when interacting with the general population. The War and Navy Departments, Washington D.C., publish pamphlets, reports, manuals, and instructions ranging on topics from countries and regions of the world, machine and weapon operation, roles of persons and positions, vehicle operation and safety, and other topics pertinent in wartime and for the military.

This study was begun in 1937 with the help of a research grant from the Social Science Research Council and a semester's sabbatical from the University of Kentucky. It was interrupted by the pressure of events, governmental service during the war and the flood of students following it. A Fulbright lectureship at Leiden University during 1957-58 finally gave me the oppor tunity to bring it to completion. I am deeply indebted to the Social Science Research Council and wish to express my appreci ation for its aid. I wish also to express my gratitude to the Uni versity of Kentucky for the semester's sabbatical in 1937-38 and the year's sabbatical in 1957-58. Without this generous aid the study could not have been made. I wish to thank the personnel of the Royal Library, the Peace Palace Library and the library of the States-General, all at The Hague, and of Leiden University library for their never failing courtesy and unwearied assistance. I am also indebted to a number of persons in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chiefly in the archives division. That their help was not more extensive was not due to unwillingness on their part to be of service. To the University of California Press I am indebted for per mitting me to draw heavily on a chapter of my book, The Dutch East Indies, which was published by it but is now out of print.

The classic reference work that provides annually updated information on the countries of the world.

The classic reference work that provides annually updated information on the countries of the world.

Situated along the line that divides the rich ecologies of Asia and Australia, the Indonesian archipelago is a hotbed for scientific exploration, and scientists from around the world have made key discoveries there. But why do the names of Indonesia’s own scientists rarely appear in the annals of scientific history? In The Floracrats Andrew Goss examines the professional lives of Indonesian naturalists and biologists, to show what happens to science when a powerful state becomes its greatest, and indeed only, patron. With only one purse to pay for research, Indonesia’s scientists followed a state agenda focused mainly on exploiting the country’s most valuable natural resources—above all its major export crops: quinine, sugar, coffee, tea, rubber, and indigo. The result was a class of botanic bureaucrats that Goss dubs the “floracrats.” Drawing on archives and oral histories, he shows how these scientists strove for the Enlightenment ideal of objective, universal, and useful knowledge, even as they betrayed that ideal by failing to share scientific knowledge with the general public. With each chapter, Goss details the phases of power and the personalities in Indonesia that have struggled with this dilemma, from the early colonial era, through independence, to the modern Indonesian state. Goss shows just how limiting dependence on an all-powerful state can be for a scientific community, no matter how idealistic its individual scientists may be.