Sultan Nazrin Shah brings together highly distinguished researchers to explore issues in the economic, administrative, and social history of modern Malaysia.

The challenge of the plural society — with large 'Malay', 'Chinese', and 'Indian' blocs — is investigated from many angles, particularly the way governments have handled economic inequalities. Both the dangers and the achievements of the New Economic Policy (emerging in 1969–1971) are examined, as are developments in education policy — which today requires invigoration of science and mathematics training if Malaysia is to escape the 'middle-income trap'.

Some chapters throw new light on such turning-point episodes as the Japanese occupation (1941–1945) and the communist Emergency (1948–1960). As well as focusing on major cities, other essays investigate the role of small towns in Malaysia's urbanization. We hear the voices of 'poor gardeners, farmers, and hawkers' as well as elite leaders in Malaysia's transition to modernity. Not all change was for the better. In empowering women, for instance, we read that Westernized governmental approaches offer less than the pre-modern Malay heritage.