Book review of "Smallholders and Stockbreeders: histories of foodcrop and livestock farming in southeast Asia" edited by Peter Boomgaard and David Henley, KITVL Press, Germany

[Extract] Peter Boomgaard and David Henley's edited collection of Southeast Asian smallholder histories is self-consciously aimed at filling an historiographical gap. It arose from a workshop, which in turn led to a conference stream, and finally to a book. The introduction makes a virtue of obscurity, announcing on its first page that, "this book is the first coordinated attempt to collect and analyse, for several areas in Southeast Asia, historical data pertaining to... livestock keeping' (1). Certainly the book keeps that promise, presenting a wealth of detail on small-scale agriculture in Southeast Asia, and publishing the work of a wide range of scholars from different national backgrounds (though all but three are based in Europe)