"This study is a preliminary step toward a more systematic analysis of the standard dynastic histories and other sources, with a focus on the region called Cochinchina and its connections with nearby territories. I note that Champa remained a viable political entity after 1471 and the Mạc Dynasty controlled extensive parts of the southern territories, even after their defeat in Đông Kinh c. 1596. Thus, control of the south by Nguyễn rulers was a gradual and complex affair, not to be reduced to family rivalries and not decisively inaugurated in 1558. Political and economic concern with the coast was no more important than control over production centers in the highland interior. These findings help refute the “Southern Push” model of Vietnamese expansion, indicating that it was not a thousand-year long process, did not involve the steady displacement of indigenous peoples, and did not focus exclusively on agrarian resources. There was not a purely north-south trajectory for political integration, and control of east-west rivers connecting the coast and the middle Mekong was no less important than control of the coast itself. Although historians have long focused on key dates and events in the dynastic chronicles, many of these are less obvious watersheds than they recognize."--Author note.
Local access dig.pdf. [Zottoli-Vietnam History.pdf]

Contents: 1. The Land and Its People -- 2. Early Kingdoms in Mainland Southeast Asia -- 3. Early Kingdoms of Sumatra and Java -- 4. The Rise of New States: Ayuthaya, Majapahit, and Malacca -- 5. European Intrusion in the Indian Archipelago: The Early Phase -- 6. Mainland Southeast Asia: The Consolidations of Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam -- 7. The English and Dutch in the East Indies -- 8. British Role in the Malay States in the Nineteenth Century -- 9. Pride and Paramountcy: Anglo-Burmese Relations in the Nineteenth Century -- 10. The French in Vietnam and Cambodia -- 11. Thailand Remains Independent -- 12. Nationalist Movements in Southeast Asia: General -- 13. Filipino Urge for Freedom from Spanish and U.S. Rule -- 14. The Nationalist Movements: Indonesia -- 15. The Nationalist Movements: Myanmar -- 16. Thailand's Constitutional Revolution -- 17. The Nationalist Movements: Vietnam -- 18. The Nationalist Movements: Malaya, Cambodia, and Laos -- 19. Independent Philippines.

Southeast Asia offers a balanced, readable account of the region from ancient modern times, covering traditional history as well as current events. SarDesai avoids exaggerating (as others do) the importance of the period of European colonial rule as he introduces us to the regions and peoples of Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Combining thematic and chronological approaches with the study of colonialism, nationalism, domestic problems, and international relations, Southeast Asia manages to convey an Asian point of view throughout. In this revised fourth edition, Professor SarDesai brings his account of region's history up to date and provides a completely updated, comprehensive bibliography and chronology.

Title: Past & present.