This volume forms part of a new extra series, which serves as a supplement to the journal Archipel. The editors of Patani through Foreign Eyes, Daniel Perret (Paris) and Jorge Santos Alves (Lisbon), are well known for their studies on the history and archaeology of various ports and polities in Southeast Asia. That includes works dealing specifically with Patani or referring to this place within greater contexts. The present publication looks at important aspects of Patani's role in early modern times. It is in fact a major monograph, handbook, and source collection all at once.

One objective of the book is to assemble important Iberian and Dutch texts with information on the Patani sultanate. A second objective is to provide a survey of other sources and past research. Besides that, the volume contains an article on “Patani and the Luso-Asian Networks (1516–1642)”, by Alves, and a second, by Perret, on Patani's domestic issues in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Before discussing these articles and the introduction to this volume, I shall briefly look at the appendices, because they contain essential material for this book, i.e. a collection of excerpts from important sources. In each case, the original Portuguese, Spanish or Dutch version appears side-by-side with an English translation. Some translations are new while others derive from old records. In a few cases, one also finds excerpts from traditional French and German texts. The first appendix, prepared by Alves in collaboration with Kevin Rose, provides material from 25 Iberian sources. The earliest piece is from an account by Cristóvão Vieira of which there is an old English translation in Donald Ferguson, Letters from Portuguese Captives in Canton (Bombay, 1902). There then follow some paragraphs or chapters taken from the works by Gaspar Correa, João de Barros, Fernão Mendes Pinto, Manuel de Faria e Sousa and other documents. Two longer texts, by D. João Ribeiro Gaio and Francisco de Dueñas, are particularly important. The second appendix, prepared by Perret with the assistance of Jean-Claude Lejosne, highlights material found in Dutch sources of the early seventeenth century. The third appendix provides the relevant sections from “Antonie Caen's Verslag” (dated 1632), with a modern English translation by Perret (the Dutch version appears in the famous work by Tiele and Heeres). The fourth appendix contains various segments from the old account by Peter Floris. This is in English (from the text published for the Hakluyt Society) and French (translation by M. Thévenot, 1663).

Here, then, we may turn to the initial part of the book. The introduction, by Perret and Alves, is a major bibliographical essay. It refers to the appendices and provides details on the background and history of important European records for the period in question. There is also a segment on Malay and Thai works – mostly manuscript sources bearing the title Hikayat Patani or Sejarah Patani. These texts date from later times, but they differ substantially from other accounts and are essential for reconstructing Patani's past. Besides that, the authors briefly refer to several sources in East Asian languages as, for example, the relevant entries in Da Ming huidian 大明會典 and the Ryukyuan collection Lidao bao'an 歷代寶案. The last chapter of the introduction outlines Patani's historiography. This mostly follows a chronological arrangement. The authors cite a large number of scholarly studies, including important books on Southeast Asia with individual segments on or references to Patani.

Alves’ article on Patani and the Portuguese, which comes next, is an excellent survey. It shows that one cannot understand Portuguese activities in and around Patani without considering Pasai, Melaka and other places. Certain individuals, especially from the Gama family, played a key role in this complex arena. Alves also tells us there was strong competition between Melaka and Patani. One element within that matrix was the pepper trade to China. This links to another chapter of Patani's past: its relations to early Macau. Until today, there is an area on the west side of the Macau peninsula, which bears the name Patane (Shalitou 沙梨頭 in Chinese). Clearly, the first Portuguese going there were in close contact with Patani; this included some of their Chinese partners. One may add, there is an interesting study by Wu Hongqi 吳宏岐, Shikong jiaozhi de shiye: Aomen diqu lishi dili yanjiu 時空交織的視野：澳門地區歷史地理研究 (Beijing, 2014), which provides further details on the Patane region of Macau.

From the late sixteenth century onwards, several queens ruled over Patani and the sultanate experienced various changes. Based on many texts, and archaeological evidence, Perret's article tries to identify the spatial features of Patani's capital during this era. It also describes local offices and government titles and tries to disentangle biographical issues related to the aforementioned queens. The final parts of the article investigate social aspects. Patani was a cosmopolitan place where one would encounter many foreigners, languages and religions. The relations between men and women is a further theme. Much of what we know on that comes from the Dutch material cited in the appendix.

To round off these remarks, one may state that both articles, along with the introduction, offer a detailed panorama of Patani's internal setting, its external relations, and the relevant documents, many of which appear in the appendices. Finally, the book also contains a useful glossary, a rich bibliography and a reliable index. Thus, the overall impression is very positive. Indeed, one ought to thank the editors for having published such a fine research tool.