The Peasant Robbers of Kedah, 1900-1929: Historical and Folk Perceptions Tapa blanda - 2014

Singapore.: NUS Press.. 2nd Edition.. 2014.. Black and white photographic illustrations, xv + 162pp, appendices, glossary, bibliography, index, paperback. In the early twentieth century, social banditry was endemic in the countryside near the border between the northern Malaysian state of Kedah and Siam, and some outlaws became local heroes. Cheah Boon Kheng’s account of peasant banditry and the society where it flourished draws on colonial records, literary sources and interviews to examine the circumstances that led the Governor, Sir Laurence Guillemard, to call the border area “one of the most lawless and insecure districts” in British Malaya during the 1920s. Considering banditry from the perspective of the peasant community, Cheah concludes that it grew out of lax government, weak policing, the geography of the border region and underdevelopment, and suggests that bandit heroes might be seen as symbols of rural protest. His discussion of the details of rural life in the early… Leer más

Singapore: NUS Press, 2014. Second edition. Paperback. New. When originally published in 1988 this book was considered a major contribution to the still scantily documented history of the working class in colonial Malaya. Relying on British records and local sources, Cheah brings to life this lawless period on the borders of British Malaya and Siam. Although The British considered the area 'one of the most lawless and insecure districts,' many contemporaries also saw the robbers as heroes offering a challenge to foreign rule. 162 pages with a glossary, bibliography and index. New Paperback Reprint Weight: 0.5kg. Post free within Malaysia