Young Soeharto: The making of a soldier, 1921–1945
Melbourne University Press, $39.99 pb, 547 pp
Biography
Soeharto’s various worlds
A nuanced portrait of President Soeharto
by David Reeve •

A portrait of President Soeharto of Indonesia, taken in 1978 (photograph via Wikimedia Commons)
At last we have it – the much-anticipated first volume of the definitive biography of President Soeharto (1921–2008). It is the culminating work in the distinguished career of Australian journalist David Jenkins. This startling volume, covering the years 1921–45, will appeal to the general reader and the Indonesia specialist. It has been described as ‘truly extraordinary’ by the late Benedict Anderson, the prominent Indonesia scholar.
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