Written by one of the world's preeminent experts on Southeast Asia, this easy-to-read guidebook offers a lively chronicle of a tantalizing part of the world that has undergone dramatic changes during its long and colorful history. Extensively illustrated with photographs and diagrams, it also includes brief histories and maps of all Southeast Asian nations, long marked by profound cultural, geographical, and political diversity. From the grandeur of the "classical" years through the transformations that accompanied the arrival and eventual dominance of the European powers, and from the bitter wars of revolution to the joys and challenges of independence, Exploring Southeast Asia offers the ideal introduction to a world waiting and deserving to be better known.