Amboina, 1623
Fear and Conspiracy on the Edge of Empire
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Published:30th Aug '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In 1623, a Japanese mercenary called Shichizō was arrested for asking suspicious questions about the defenses of a Dutch East India Company fort on Amboina, a remote set of islands in what is now eastern Indonesia. When he failed to provide an adequate explanation, he was tortured until he confessed that he had joined a plot orchestrated by a group of English merchants based nearby to seize control of the fortification and ultimately to rip the spice-rich islands from the Company’s grasp. Two weeks later, Dutch authorities executed twenty-one alleged conspirators, sparking immediate outrage and a controversy that would endure for centuries to come.
In this landmark study, Adam Clulow presents a new perspective on the Amboina case that aims to move beyond the standard debate over the guilt or innocence of the supposed plotters. Instead, Amboina, 1623 argues that the case was driven forward by a potent combination of genuine crisis and overpowering fear that propelled the rapid escalation from suspicion to torture, that gave shape and form to an imagined plot, and that pushed events forward to their final bloody conclusion. Based on an exhaustive analysis of original trial documents, letters, and depositions, this book offers a masterful reinterpretation of a trial that has divided opinion for centuries while presenting new insight into global history and the nature of European expansion across the early modern world.
Clulow won a number of prizes for his first book. He likely will do so again with his second...Amboina, 1623 deserves the widest possible readership. The story is compelling. So, too, is Clulow's argument about the corrosive effect of fears and anxieties on colonial officials without enough back-up and effectively marooned 'on the edge of Empire.' * Journal of Asian Studies *
Ambon is one small island in a vast world, and 1623 is just a single year in millennia of history, but this book resonates widely and deeply, an exemplary work of global history. * Journal of World History *
Amboina, 1623: Fear and Conspiracy on the Edge of Empire is a well-written, even intriguing text and should be read both for its clarifying and source-critical treatment of the actual—and long-obscured—events and the fascinating historiographical implications. * American Historical Review *
In this scintillating and deeply researched study, Adam Clulow presents us with a balanced, nuanced, and convincing account of the Amboina affair, its background and its aftershocks...one of the most important books in English on early Dutch imperialism, and a rare good read as well. * Sixteenth Century Journal *
In a gripping story about fear and loathing in Amboina, Adam Clulow probes a pivotal event in world history to offer fresh insights about the entanglements of European empires in Asia. Meticulously researched and engagingly told, Amboina, 1623 is that rarest of rare things: a scholarly tour de force that is also a page-turner. -- Lauren Benton, Vanderbilt University
A true model of globally minded historical scholarship, Clulow’s brilliant new study combines insights derived from his cutting-edge work in the digital humanities with the best traditions of archival research and interpretation. Carefully exploring the Asian context in which the dramatic events of the Amboina trial unfolded, he offers a stunning portrait of the violence, ambition, and anxiety at the heart of European empire. -- Daniel Botsman, Yale University
Although one hesitates to use the word ‘definitive’ in connection with the Amboina massacre, which has caused fierce controversy until the present day, Clulow’s analysis of the voluminous documentation generated by the Dutch and English East India Companies is incisive, balanced, and utterly convincing. -- Martine Julia van Ittersum, author of Profit and Principle: Hugo Grotius, Natural Rights Theories and the Rise of Dutch Power in the East Indies, 1595–1615
This scintillating and deeply researched study... is the best and most thorough treatment of Amboina to date. * Sixteenth Century Journal *
- Runner-up for Robert W. Hamilton Book Award, Office of the Vice President for Research, The University of Texas at Austin 2020
- Short-listed for New South Wales Premier's History Award, General History Category 2020
ISBN: 9780231175128
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
312 pages