"Very few people alive know the history of Southwest Sulawesi as well as Heather Sutherland. She has forgotten more than most of us can hope to know in a single lifetime about this fascinating, dynamic place." - Eric Tagliacozzo, Cornell University "Elegantly written, carefully crafted, and effectively situated within regional and global historical contexts and within an impressively diverse and interdisciplinary set of scholarly literatures, this book provides a meticulously researched and referenced, analytically lucid, and richly evocative and intricate account of the economic, political, religious, and social history of Makassar and its South Sulawesi hinterlands. Adding to Heather Sutherland's many lasting scholarly achievements, the book stands as one of the most impressive local histories in the field of Southeast Asian Studies and provides a highly illuminating prism through which to trace transformations across the Indonesian archipelago and the region as a whole from the seventeenth century up to the present day."– J.T. Sidel, London School of Economics and Political Science
"This stunning book is the welcome culmination of a half century of study of the politicians and politics of the city of Makassar and its hinterland in south Sulawesi. Bringing an encyclopedic knowledge and a sharp eye for characterization, Heather Sutherland examines the ongoing tension between the allure of maritime commerce and the desire for terrestrial hegemony across four centuries. The result is dazzling." – Douglas Kammen, National University of Singapore
