Max Havelaar, or, The Coffee Auctions of a Dutch Trading Company

Max Havelaar, or, The Coffee Auctions of a Dutch Trading Company - Penguin Classics

Paperback (27 Aug 1987)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Max Havelaar - a Dutch civil servant in Java - burns with an insatiable desire to end the ill treatment and oppression inflicted on the native peoples by the colonial administration. Max is an inspirational figure, but he is also a flawed idealist whose vow to protect the Javanese from cruelty ends in his own downfall. In Max Havelaar, Multatuli (the pseudonym for Eduard Douwes Dekker) vividly recreated his own experiences in Java and tellingly depicts the hypocrisy of those who gained from the corrupt coffee trade. Sending shockwaves through the Dutch nation when it was published in 1860, this damning exposé of the terrible conditions in the colonies led to welfare reforms in Java and continues to inspire the fairtrade movement today.

Roy Edwards's vibrant translation conveys the satirical and innovative style of Multatuli's autobiographical polemic. In his introduction, R. P. Meijer discusses the author's tempestuous life and career, the controversy the novel aroused and its unusual narrative structure.

Book information

ISBN: 9780140445169
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Pub date:
DEWEY: 839.3135
DEWEY edition: 19
Language: English
Number of pages: 337
Weight: 266g
Height: 197mm
Width: 129mm
Spine width: 21mm