In public commentary as well as academic research, Indonesia is often portrayed as an overlooked, or an ‘underrated’ country. One of the largest countries in the world, the most populous Muslim-majority society, and a country with a solid record of economic development and democracy over the last two decades, Indonesia is often excluded from discussions of emerging powers or most dynamic economies. Perhaps a better way to put it, as the authors of this new book suggest, is to think of Indonesia as a nation that is ‘less understood than it should be’ (p. 5), a place of exceptional diversity and dynamism that is surprisingly off the radar given its size and strategic role in Southeast Asia. The three authors, leveraging their expertise in Indonesian politics and society, endeavour to help correct this bias with a comprehensive survey of Indonesia's contemporary politics and society, with an analysis that blends history with more recent patterns of political and social change in various domains.

The first part of the book is historical. After a brief introduction, chapter 2 is a tour de force that guides the reader from the precolonial Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms to Islamisation, the rise of European influence in the archipelago, the heyday of colonialism, the emergence of a nationalist movement, the Japanese Occupation, and the National Revolution. The third chapter continues the narrative through the Sukarno years, from the Liberal Democracy era to the slide into authoritarianism, the Tragedy of 1965–66 and the subsequent establishment of the New Order regime. Chapter 4 focuses on the tumultuous years following the breakdown of the Suharto regime, when Indonesia overcame exceptional economic and social instability with the sweeping political reforms whose legacy is still being felt today. Finally, chapter 5, while not historical in a strict sense, continues in the same vein, providing useful background on the making of political and institutional arrangements that shape contemporary Indonesian politics. The authors offer a well-written and exhaustive review of current research on the subject, including a discussion of issues such as electoral politics, clientelism and political Islam.

The chapters in the second part of the book focus on selected issues in Indonesian politics and society. Chapter 6 introduces the topic of inequality, a crucial issue in contemporary Indonesian studies, and especially on the provision of social services (healthcare, education) and labour markets as a source of socioeconomic disparities. Chapter 7 discusses a series of contentious issues under the common umbrella of human rights, specifically attempts to hold perpetrators accountable for abuses during the New Order (the 1965–66 massacres, as well as military campaigns in Papua, Timor-Leste and Aceh) and more contemporary issues related, for instance, to gender and sexual and religious identity. The eighth chapter on ‘Media and popular culture’ could have offered an introduction to the exceptionally vast, dynamic and exciting world of cultural production in Indonesia. However, although Indonesian television and film are indeed discussed, the chapter is largely an analysis of media regulation and freedom. Finally, the concluding chapter investigates the role of Indonesia in international affairs. While interactions between Indonesia and the rest of the world include a broad range of economic, cultural, political and social exchanges, the chapter focuses exclusively on formal politics and diplomacy in particular, as it delves on bilateral relations between Indonesia, its neighbours, and international powers, especially the United States and China.

Overall, the authors succeed in their aim to provide a useful tool to educate international readers about Indonesia. The result of the authors’ desire to disseminate their knowledge about this (relatively) elusive nation is an authoritative, knowledgeable and highly readable introduction to the country, which I think will be especially beneficial to a general readership or to students approaching the study of Indonesia for the first time.