'Nicholas Tarling has produced a judiciously argued, thorough examination of the role fulfilled by Southeast Asia within the context of the immediate origins of the Pacific conflict …Tarling presents a clear and reliable guide through the complexities of this topic.' Peter Lowe, English Historical Review

'Professor Tarling's kind of detailed historical analysis is the only way in which historians can hope to understand the sudden and irreversible transformation which overwhelmed colonial power in South-East Asia. He himself is an acknowledged master of such analysis, and of the British, American and Australian government archives that are needed to trace the course of such events … a major contribution to the framework of historical reference within which further research must continue.' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society