“Shadows of Empire casts new light on the history of Java and analyzes historiographical method in the light of theoretical developments in the study of colonial history. Its emphasis on shadow theatre as text, as performance, and as oral tradition makes an important new contribution.”-Jean Gelman Taylor, University of New South Wales “A challenging book. Laurie Sears provides a wide range of provocative insights into Javanese and colonial culture and a radical rethinking about the wayang as a major area for the negotiation of power relationships between the Javanese and the Dutch.”-Amin Sweeney, University of California, Berkeley