Historical Dictionary of Singapore

In spite of Singapore's small size, it has long had a major impact on the world because of its geographical location and its wealth. The British initially made the island a major port for the shipping of goods and later as an airline hub for the region. These factors, along with a steady government, have helped to contribute to the country's affluence. This multicultural, multiracial, and multi-religious island-nation is the envy of many countries in the world, which have tried to emulate the economic success of Singapore. The new edition of the Historical Dictionary of Singapore has been completely rewritten since the first edition was released 20 years ago. It relates the history of this country through a chronology, an introductory essay, an expansive bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Singapore history from the earliest times to the present.

Singapore, neither very old nor very large, is still of enormous importance in today’s world because of its location as a major port and air hub and its incredibly multicultural population. This new edition of the Historical Dictionary of Singapore has been totally rewritten and reflects the influence that Singapore has on today’s global society. The author has published previously about Singapore, and as an Australian, he has something of a regional connection. Like other titles in the various Historical Dictionaries series, this one begins with a chronology and a lengthy introduction, which places the history of Singapore in context. The entries that follow range in length from a paragraph to a bit over one page. These include biographies of major figures from the country’s history (for example, founder Sir Thomas Raffles and current president Selleppan Nathan) and places, such as Sentosa Island and Singapore Botanic Gardens. Entries on general topics, such as Elections, Smuggling, and Television, are numerous, as are entries on major political events, such as Malayan Emergency and World War II. As is the practice for this series, there are no further readings attached to the entries, but there is a lengthy bibliography that is divided by subjects and preceded by an introduction. Appendixes include lists of colonial officials and heads of state as well as population statistics. This would be a valuable addition to a library with a focus on Southeast Asia., The 2011 edition is 363 pages long and has the following sections: acronyms and abbreviations, chronology, introduction, dictionary, appendixes and the bibliography. ... The Dictionary section of the 2011 edition has been expanded to include more people, events and organizations after 1991. ... Libraries should still buy this book for their shelves as it has information not found in the 1991 edition., Libraries should still buy this book for their shelves as it has information not found in the 1991 edition.

Justin Corfield has been teaching history and international relations at Geelong Grammar School in Australia since 1993. He is the co-author, with his father, of the Encyclopedia of Singapore (Scarecrow, 2006), the first encyclopedia to be published on the country.