Books by Tim Hannigan

Murder in the Hindu Kush
The History Press, 2011/Westland (India), 2012
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOARDMAN TASKER PRIZE
On a bright July morning in 1870 the British explorer George Hayward was brutally murdered high in the Hindu Kush. Who was he, what had brought him to this wild spot, and why was he killed?
Told in full for the first time, this is the gripping tale of Hayward's journey from a Yorkshire childhood to a place at the forefront of the 'Great Game' between the British Raj and the Russian Empire, and of how, driven by 'an insane desire,' he crossed the Western Himalayas, tangled with despotic chieftains and ended up on the wrong side of both the Raj and the mighty Maharaja of Kashmir.
It is also the tale of the conspiracies and controversies that surrounded his death, while the author's own travels in Hayward's footsteps bring the story up to date, and reveal how the echoes of the Great Game still reverberate across Central Asia in the twenty-first century.

"a masterful piece of research, sleuthing and story-telling that makes Hayward’s lonely figure come alive..." - Salman Rashid, Dawn


Raffles and the British Invasion of Java
Monsoon Books, 2012
WINNER OF THE JOHN BROOKS AWARD
 On a hot August afternoon in 1811 an army of 10,000 British redcoats splashed ashore through the tropical shallows off Batavia to conquer the Dutch colony of Java.  They would remain there for five turbulent years.
Told in full for the first time, this is the gripping story of how the British attempted to bring the full force of European colonialism to a tropical island where Muslim sultans claimed descent from Hindu gods.  It is also the story of the man who presided over that attempt – Thomas Stamford Raffles, destined for future fame as the founder of Singapore.
Drawing on both British and Javanese archive sources, this book explores the bloody battles and furious controversies that marked British rule in Java, and reveals Raffles – long celebrated as a liberal hero – in a shocking new light, showing how he crushed dissent, looted palaces, and incited massacres to further his own insatiable ambitions. 

"... a vivid portrait ... a gripping narrative..." - The Straits Times


A Brief History of Indonesia
Tuttle Publishing, 2015
Indonesia is by far the largest country in Southeast Asia and fourth most populous in the world after the United States. It is also the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, a land of incredible diversity and unending paradoxes with a rich history stretching back a thousand years and more.
This fascinating book takes the reader through the Hindu-Buddhist years in Java, the arrival of Islam in the archipelago, the Second World War, the postwar New Order years, to the separation of East Timor from Indonesia at the start of the twenty-first century.
Tim Hannigan tells the story of Indonesia as a narrative of kings, traders, missionaries, soldiers and revolutionaries—featuring stormy sea crossings, fiery volcanoes, and the occasional tiger. For readers who want an entertaining introduction to Asia’s most colorful country, this is the perfect read.

"An amazing tale, enticingly told … Tim Hannigan’s narrative history brims with interest …" - Andrew Beatty, author of A Shadow Falls


A Brief History of Bali
Tuttle Publishing, 2016
Previously published as Bali Chronicles, this fully updated edition of Willard Hanna’s classic narrative history of Bali comes with a new introduction and extended three-part epilogue by Tim Hannigan, carrying the story into the twenty-first century.
With a strong emphasis on colourful characters and dramatic incidents, the book tells the fascinating story of Indonesia’s “island paradise”, its rulers and its people, and their encounters with the outside world. It sketches the culture and politics of the island against the backdrop of an economic dilemma that has confronted the Balinese for centuries – how to preserve their unique identity in the face of foreign incursions.

The arrival of Europeans a century ago forever changed the “real, unspoiled” Bali. This is a story of the vulnerability – and durability – of an ancient culture facing the modern world.