Colonialism and Cold War is based on a wide range of American archival sources, most particularly the State Department and modern military records in the National Archives, on British cabinet and Foreign Office materials in the Public Record Office, and on United Nations records in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Robert J. McMahon is master of materials and has produced a neatly written, nicely judged, and well-argued work.(American Historical Review) Robert J. McMahon has produced a superb scholarly reconstruction of the American role in the decolonization of Southeast Asia's most important nation. He has also illuminated Washington's persistent challenge to reconcile often-conflicting United States interests in colonialism, nationalism, and cold war. Policymakers and foreign policy theorists, as well as diplomatic historians, will find instruction in this lucidly written, tightly focused, nonpolemical, and richly documented account of the role of the United States in the Indonesian struggle for independence.(Journal of Asian Studies)