Encyclopedia of Singapore

While Singapore is relatively small in size and population, its impact is considerably larger. This rising financial center has evolved from its early days as an entrepot for Southeast Asia into the transport hub and export-source for the world that it is today. More than this, it has served as a model for many developing countries, showing just how much can be achieved by hard work and intelligent policy even when there are almost no natural resources or other evident sources of wealth available.

The Encyclopedia of Singapore focuses on the period since the island-nation's independence but also provides essential background on the country's history. It includes brief entries on the leaders of the struggle for independence and economic progress and includes many cultural figures as well. Other entries describe important places, institutions, and events. In addition, there is a brief chronology and an introduction—to place events in their historical context—and a bibliography for any reader who wants to learn more.

Justin Corfield teaches History and International Politics at Geelong Grammar School in Australia. He has written and edited several books on Southeast Asian and Australian history, including a series of bibliographies that cover World War I in Asia, World War II in Malaysia and Singapore, and the Malayan Emergency and the Confrontation with Indonesia. He is also co-author of the Historical Dictionary of Cambodia (Scarecrow Press, 2002).

Robin S. Corfield lived and worked in Singapore from 1960 to 1963 and thus was eyewitness to the early years of transition from British colony to independence. He is the author of a number of books on Australia's participation in WWI in Europe and WWII in the Southwest Pacific, with two more in progress.