This is a story about the vulnerability and durability of an anachronistic system in a chaotically changing modern world. The Balinese-Hindu culture thrived undisturbed for centuries, but modern times threatened to destroy the island's heritage. This book details the struggle in full.Bali had many traumatic encounters with the West. Spanning all of Balinese history, it sketches the economics, c…
In A Season in Hell, at the age of eighteen, the French poet Arthur Rimbaud predicted the rest of his life: 'My day is done; I'm leaving Europe. The sea air will burn my lungs; lost climes will tan my skin.' Three years later, in 1876, he joined the Royal Army of the Dutch Indies as an infantryman and sailed for Java, where he promptly deserted and fled into the jungle. It was the most enigmati…