"Good books on the fall of the Dutch East Indies?" Topic

What're good sources on Java Sea, the loss of the Dutch East Indies, and the general sociopolitical climate thereabouts both pre- and post-Japanese occupation?

Someone has put together a very extensive website on the subject with many firsthand and survivor accounts here- link

link

For the battle of Java Sea, I would go to Samuel Eliot Morison's "History of Naval Operations in Woeld War 2", and the appropriate volume. This is the official US Navy history, and he goes into great detail. If it has been "superceded by current research", I am unaware of it, but this is the Navy's stroy, and they're sticking to it.

Shores had a very good book strictly about the air battles. It helps explain quite a bit.

I have not read this book, but I remember glancing through it at a book store. It look very interesting. I do plan to eventually getting around to reading it.

"The Admiral's Baby" by Laurens van der Post.

Here is the link

A quote from Amazon: "An uncommon look at history from a creator of history. Mr. Van der Post's illuminating mystical humnanistic work describes his position at the vanguard of British efforts to keep the lid on the island of Java while transitioning from the Japanese occupation to a new political system. It is also an intensely personal exploration of the author's feelings and realizations after his 3 1/2 years of cruel confinement in a Japanese prison camp, after which he was asked to monitor the Japanese till the takeover of Allied forces was complete. Add to the mix a highly charged nationalism appearing unexpectedly in the Indonesian population aimed primarily at their former overlords the Dutch, and there is plenty to follow in this very dense read."