<span>Not only is this a fine biography that gives insight into a particular man but it also gives the reader a sense of the times and circumstances in which Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles lived. He was a remarkable individual. He was ambitious, yes, for himself and for king and country. At the same time he appreciated the peoples, the cultures, the natural environment of Southeast Asia, where he served, formally, as an agent of the British East India Company, but saw far beyond its commercial vision. He adamanetly opposed slavery and the slave trade, countered the opium trade, and banned public gambling in the areas over which he had administrative sway. He was an historian and a scholar and a natural scientist as much as he was a promoter of empire. He achieved fame, not fortune. And he experienced tragedy on a scale that would have defeated many, understandably. He was perceptive, far-sighted, and possessed of the energy of ten, or so it seems, despite recurrent illnesses. He married two women as remarkable as he. We know him as the founder of modern Singapore. Raffles of the Eastern Isles introduces us to a man who accepted challenge, did his duty--and loved a party.</span>

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