First published in 1981, The Sulu Zone has become a classic in the field of Southeast Asian history. The book deals with a fascinating geographical, cultural, and historical "border zone" centered on the Sulu and Celebes Seas between 1768 and 1898, and its complex interactions with China and the West. The author examines the social and cultural forces generated within the Sulu Sultanate by the China trade, namely, the advent of organized, long-distance maritime slave raiding and the assimilation of captives on a hitherto unprecedented scale into a traditional Malayo-Muslim social system. 

About the Author
James Francis Warren is Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian Modern History at Murdoch University, having previously held positions at the Australian National University and Yale University. He has also been a professorial research fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University and the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore. He has been awarded grants by the Social Science Research Council and the Australia Research Council and is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.