On the Eighteenth Century as a Category of Asian History: Van Leur in Retrospect

The starting point of this volume is the scathing attack, far-reaching in its consequences, launched in 1942 by J.C. van Leur on the views then current on the character and significance of the 18th century as a category in Asian history. His denial of European pre-eminence in Asian waters represented a direct attack on colonial historiography. The essays here derive from an international conference held 50 years later, to assess the impact of van Leur’s work. In part historiographic, in par...