White Rajah: A Biography of Sir James Brooke

This is a fun and quick read about an obscure and exotic subject. As the author recognizes, the Brookes of Sarawak are known to generations of stamp and coin collectors, but otherwise hardly household names (at least outside of Sarawak). I am one of those collectors (alas, apparently a dwindling breed), and have always been interested by the story of the Englishman who established an Asian dynasty. This is a "modern" biography that deals frankly and often with Brooke's apparent homosexuality, and really tries to provide a balanced picture of him in historical context -- neither a saint nor a devil. I found these psychological aspects of this book to be the most interesting; I confess to being somewhat less captivated by the political and military aspects, which dealt primarily with the duplicity of Bruneian princelings and battles in which one side or the other appeared to capture and destroy an enemy garrison made of wood and palm fronds. I was, however, very interested by the author's tale of how Brooke was perceived at the time in Britain, where he was alternately characterized as a hero and an oppressor, and ultimately became something of a lightning rod in domestic British politics. This is not heavy-duty history, but a light and fun read -- I was able to start and finish it, most enjoyably, on a couple of plane rides.

A very interesting book about the Biography of Sir James Brook, for those interesting in The British Empire Colonial Time and Asia Themes is a must read. You will finish it in 4 days!! Recommend.

Well written account of a great British Boy Scout type of adventurer in the Far East. Real life adventure, if you could drag the kids away from their IPods the would enjoy. It.

Well researched.

Interesting perspective - detailed biography

Excellent condition.

I give this interesting and informative book 4 stars for revelation -- revelation to me, who previously understood only that James Brook "rose" from a humble East India Company employee to become Rajah of Sarawak, a status bestowed upon him by the Sultan of Brunei in gratitude for his ridding the coast of pirates. The story, of course, is much more complicated -- much, much more complicated. As usual, any true-to-life biography that is not hagiography proves that the truth of human lives is much quirkier than fiction. Anthropologist Barley writes with candor and wit, but too much of the book, unfortunately, is devoted to an attempt at psychoanalysis. Having stated that we live in a post-Freudian world, he proceeds to discern ramifications of Brooke's sexual (dis)orientation in every aspect of his life.

I have always found the life of James Brooke to be totally fascinating, but this is the first biography of his I have read. I must say that Nigel Barley has made a cracking go at capturing his fabrilliant life and has dealt with the question of sexuality in a completely objective way. Rajah Brooke and his family had sort of air brushed his pretty obvious homesexuality out of the correspondence etc that he left behind. What remains however, clearly indicates a man who whilst never shunning women, does have a predeliction for the company of young, good looking men/boys. There are some great drawings too which add more flavour and the prose does flow melifuously. I lent this to a friend who found it unput downable if that is a word and i did get through it at a gallop which is always a good sign. The original extracts and quotes are extensive and illuminating, evidencing some careful research. He was also completly eccentric, dashing and charming with the sort of zeal for foreign adventure that the Victorians revelled in. I would have loved to have met him and Nigel Barley has managed to convey the successes and calamaties with both humour and a genuine warmth for the subject, I shall definitely read more of his work.