Book review: Republicanism, communism, Islam: cosmopolitan origins of revolution in Southeast Asia by John T. Sidel

In Republicanism, Communism, Islam: Cosmopolitan Origins of Revolution in Southeast Asia, John T. Sidel makes a powerful analytical contribution to existing scholarship. The book questions why the Philippine, Indonesian and Vietnamese revolutions occurred when they did in comparative perspective, exploring their conditions of possibility and showing how dominant explanations for their outbreak have not sufficiently recognised the importance of cosmopolitan and trans-regional connections in fuelling these revolutions, writes Lin Hongxuan.