All of us: A History of Southeast Asia by Jackie French and Virginia Hooker

Illus. by Mark Wilson. Angus and Robertson, 2019. ISBN: 9781460750025.
Recommended for Library collections. Themes: Southeast Asian History; Poetry. Combining historical timelines, poetry and interesting illustrations, this is an overview of the changes in Southeast Asia from 200,000BCE to the present. With geo-political changes, human exploration and movements, conflicts and some geological and environmental events described with one sentence explanations in the timeline, this is a very brief overview of the significant changes in the region. The poetry creates a lyrical response to the changes, and the illustrations include an evocative conglomeration of images relevant to the particular era of history.
This is a book that is a worthy inclusion in a library collection for the summary detail of the history of Southeast Asia. The scholarship of Emeritus Professor Virginia Hooker is evident. This book is unlikely to be read from cover to cover and were it not for the names of Jackie French and Mark Wilson it may not have made as much of a splash, however the information is valuable to those who are interested in the history of our near neighbours.
Carolyn Hull