B OO K R E V I E W: A B I O G R A P H Y O F R A F F L E S Philip Courtenay - TAASA Review September 2013

B OO K R E V I E W: A B I O G R A P H Y O F R A F F L E S Philip Courtenay – TAASA Review September 2013

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This article was originally found in the September 2013 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 22, Issue 3, Page 25).

The full article is available for free to TAASA Members.

Raffles and the Golden Opportunity Victoria Glendinning Profile Books, 2012 RRP AUS$45; hardcover, 349pp In an early paragraph of the introduction to her recent biography of Sir Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), Raffles and the Golden Opportunity, Victoria Glendinning states that the book seeks to demythologise him without diminishing him, adding that he was not a genius but, like all ambitious visionaries, he had a streak of genius.

Raffles is the subject of a substantial body of literature, which commenced with his own The History of Java in two volumes published in London by Black, Parbury & Allen and John Murray in 1817.

Glendinning’s contribution is the most recent addition to this literature...