In words that 'touch the heart, jump with merriment, ring with truth’ Indonesian poet and journalist Goenawan Mohamad, editor of the banned magazine Tempo in which they were onginally published, reveals an Indonesia which exists beyond the headlines.

He writes about identity and change, democracy and freedom, and the meaning of history. Often the starting point is very specific and local - a bicycle accident in Holland, a solar eclipse over Borobudur, a visit to Saladin's tomb - but the meditation that follows may extend to the principles of Sufism or the nature of Chinese Communism, the role of bureaucracies or the function of comedy.

Slow to condemn or to reach hard-and-fast conclusions, Goenawan is nevertheless very clear about his commitment to certain values. He talks of 'all of us who feel the loss when brotherhood is killed by hate' and, despite his successful career, he has never lost sight of the fundamentals of village life in Indonesia and of poverry in the Third World.

This book gives an unrivalled insight into a complex country with a many-layered past. It introduces to Western readers a man of great charm, humour and sophistication, a lover of words and a lover of truth.