Pirates In Paradise: A Modern History Of Southeast Asia's Maritime Marauders

Southeast Asia contains some of the world’s busiest shipping waters, particularly the Indonesian archipelago, the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. The natural geography and human ecology of maritime Southeast Asia makes the area particularly apt for piracy, which has a long history in the region. In several instances during the last 250 years, pirates have disrupted peaceful trade and communications. Pirates in Paradise traces the shifting character and development of Southeast Asian piracy from the eighteenth century to the present day, demonstrating how political, economic, social, and technological factors have contributed to change-―but have by no means exterminated―the phenomenon.