Reading list

Brian Avery, Our secret war : the 4th Battalion the Royal Australian Regiment : defending Malaysia against Indonesian confrontation, 1965-1967 (McCrae, Vic., Slouch Hat Publications, 2001). [Provides an account of the clandestine operations carried out in Indonesian Borneo during confrontation in the 1960’s. Appendices include, Nominal Roll of 4RAR members serving in Sarawak, April-September 1966 and Gallantry citations.]

Noel Barber, The war of the running dogs: the Malayan Emergency: 1948-1960 (New York, N.Y: Weybright and Talley, 1972). [Journalistic account based on research and interviews; index; photographs; maps; bibliography.]

John Cloake, Templer: Tiger of Malaya: the life of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer (London: Harrap, 1985). [Biography of Sir Gerald Templer who, as High Commissioner from 1952, set Malaya firmly on the path to independence.]

Richard Clutterbuck, The long long war: the emergency in Malaya 1948-1960 (London: Cassell, 1967). [A complete account of the Emergency which provides a comparison with the Vietnam War. Chronological summary of events in appendixes; bibliography.]

Richard Clutterbuck, Riot and revolution in Singapore and Malaya, 1945-1963 (London: Faber and Faber, 1973). [Examines underground organisation of Chinese students and urban movement in Singapore; insightful conclusion; maps; bibliography.]

John Coates, Suppressing insurgency: an analysis of the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1954 (Colorado: Westview, 1992). [This operational analysis reveals that initially the British handling of the Malayan Emergency was inept. Includes maps, statistics of casualties by month, bibliography.]

Peter Dennis and Jeffrey Grey, Emergency and confrontation: Australian military operations in Malaya and Borneo 1950-1966 (St. Leonard's, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd., 1996). [Summary of Australian operations during Confrontation; includes figures, maps.]

Roy Follows, The jungle beat: fighting terrorists in Malaya, 1952-1961 (London: Cassell, 1990). [A British officer’s personal account of jungle warfare; photographs; glossary.]

Robert Jackson, The Malayan emergency: the Commonwealth's wars, 1948-1966 (London: Routledge, 1991). [Role of air power and guerrilla tactics used on land are examined. Contains maps, list of Commonwealth and military air units involved; bibliography.]

Donald Mackay, Malayan Emergency 1948-1960: the domino that stood (London: Brassey’s, 1997). [A comprehensive and objective analysis from a perspective of fifty years which also examines key personalities in the conflict; plates; glossary.]

J. A. C. Mackie, Konfrontasi: the Indonesia-Malaysia dispute, 1963-1966 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974). [A study of the Indonesian and Malayan domestic issues, the role of Sukarno and the Partai Komunis Indonesia; map; glossary; bibliography.]

Harry Miller, Jungle war in Malaya: the campaign against Communism, 1948-60 (London: Barker, 1972). [Overview and descriptive account; photographs; maps; index.]

Rex Mortimer, Indonesian communism under Sukarno: ideology and politics, 1959-1965 (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1974). [A study of the PKI and the evolution of its doctrines; analyses its ideas, programs and doctrines; appendices; bibliography.]

Edgar O'Ballance, Malaya: the communist insurgent war, 1948-1960 (London: Faber, 1966). [A useful reference and historical narrative; maps; appendices include statistics of casualties; index.]

Chin Peng, My side of history (Singapore: Media Masters, 2003). [Researched autobiography of Communist Party of Malaya insurgent Chin Peng against Malaya’s British colonisers and Japanese invaders.]

Anthony Short, The Communist insurrection in Malaya, 1948-1960 (London: Muller, 1975). [Statistics of casualties; abbreviations.]

E. D. Smith, Malaya and Borneo (London: Ian Allan, 1985). [Briefly describes tactics and methods of both campaigns; includes photographs; maps; glossary. Appendices give military units which served in the Malayan Emergency and order of battle.]

Neil C. Smith, Mostly unsung: Australia and the Commonwealth in the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960 (Melbourne, Vic: N. C. Smith, 1989). [Appendices include statistics, roll of honour, casualties, and military cemeteries of Malaysia; medal entitlements and winners.]

Neil C. Smith, Nothing short of war with the Australian Army in Borneo 1962-66 (Brighton, Vic.: Mostly Unsung , 1999). [Appendices include: Nominal Roll; Nominal Roll of Casualties; Abbreviations and Medal information.]

Richard Stubbs, Hearts and minds in guerrilla warfare: the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1989). [Examines administrative, economic, political, social as well as military aspects of the war; map; glossary; select bibliography.]