Amir Sjarifoeddin: Politics and Truth in Indonesia, 1907-1948

by Rudolf Mrázek

Overview

Amir Sjarifoeddin explores the experiences of a central figure in the Indonesian revolution, whose life mirrored the idealism and contradictions of the anti-colonial and post-war world of twentieth century Indonesia.

Amir was born at the edge of an empire in a time of change. Imprisoned by the Dutch for anti-colonialism, he was sentenced to death by the Japanese for anti-fascism. He survived to become the prime minister of the new Indonesian republic. Disappointed by the direction the Indonesian elites were taking, Amir turned increasingly to the left. In 1948 he joined the armed uprising against both the Indonesian government and the corruption of the national revolution, and was captured and executed as a traitor.

In Amir Sjarifoeddin, Rudolf Mrázek unveils the human dimensions of a figure who is widely mythologized but often poorly understood. Through Sjarifoeddin's life, it is possible to study the moral ambiguity and complexities of the political revolutions of the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501777462
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	10/15/2024
Series:	Cornell Modern Indonesia Project
Pages:	414
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rudolf Mrázek is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He is the author of A Certain Age, Sjahrir, Engineers of Happy Land, and Complete Lives of Camp People.

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What People are Saying About This

Danilyn Rutherford

Amir Sjarifoeddin is erudite and entertaining, profound and informative, filled with important insights about Indonesian history. Above all, Mrázek demonstrates here that a book can be beautiful without sacrificing theoretical rigor and bite.

Gerry van Klinken

This first full-length life of Amir Sjarifoeddin is impassioned, committed, ironic, and personal. It sets the route for a new historiography of utopia that can be achieved, in a world in which revolutions 'inevitably fail.' A marvelous book.