So far, we've offered you twelve books of the year in four installments. To close this feature, a reminder that the Lowy Institute itself has had quite a remarkable publishing year, with four new books hitting the shelves. So, if you're looking for a last minute gift idea...
Rendezvous with Destiny, by Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.
Rendezvous with Destiny tells the story of how Franklin D Roosevelt and five envoys paved the way for America's entry into the Second World War. It highlights the personal diplomacy of these five men during one the most important periods in American history, one which not only helped win the war but moved the US from isolationism to the superpower status it enjoys to this day.
You can read reviews of the book on Michael's personal website,and take a look at the interview I did with Michael when the book was published. Michael also talked with then-foreign minister (and noted US history tragic) Bob Carr about this period in history. Here's video of Bob Carr's speech at the book launch.
The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia: From Darul Islam to Jema'ah Islamiyah, by Solahuddin. Translated by Dave McRae, Research Fellow, East Asia Program.
Based on a remarkable array of original sources, The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia shows that the ideas and activism that led to the Bali bombings in 2002 have a long and complex history in Indonesia, stretching back to the Darul Islam revolt in the 1950s. Dave McRae's translation of the book and its publication was supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Solahudin provides a dispassionate analysis of divergent terrorist ideologies in what has been described as a 'ground-breaking work' by the ANU's Greg Fealy.
Reports from a Turbulent Decade, edited by Michael Fullilove, Executive Director, and Anthony Bubalo, Research Director.
Covering topics as diverse as Iraq, the rise of China, ediplomacy, the death penalty in Indonesia and Australia's place in the region and in the world, the Lowy Institute's tenth anniversary anthology provides a flavour of the Institute’s contribution to the national and international debate.
Reports from a Turbulent Decade contains extracts from the most insightful and influential papers, speeches, op-eds and Interpreter posts from the Lowy Institute's first decade. Earlier this year I posted extracts from the book on The Interpreter.
A Few Poorly Organized Men, by Dr Dave McRae, Research Fellow.
From 1998 to 2007, Poso became the site of the most protracted inter-religious conflict in post-authoritarian Indonesia, as well as one of the most important theatres of operations for the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.
Nine years of violent conflict between Christians and Muslims in Poso elevated a previously little known district in eastern Indonesia to national and global prominence. Drawing on a decade of research, for the most part conducted while the conflict was ongoing, this book provides the first comprehensive history of this violence. It also addresses the puzzle of why the Poso conflict was able to persist for so long in an increasingly stable democratic state.
