Indonesia Handbook

Last updated April 09, 2019

Bill Dalton's Indonesia Handbook, published by Moon Publications in California, was the main English language tourist guide book for the whole of Indonesia between the 1970s and the 1990s.

Moon is a travel guidebook publisher founded in 1973 in Chico, California as a collective of world travelers and writers. The company started with travel guides to Asia and later became the top publisher of guides to the Americas. Moon was an early advocate of independent travel, and their authors often live in the areas they write about. The company is now based in Berkeley, California and published by Avalon Travel, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying detail and historical and cultural information are often included. Different kinds of guide books exist, focusing on different aspects of travel, from adventure travel to relaxation, or aimed at travelers with different incomes, or focusing on sexual orientation or types of diet.

History

The book originated in 1973 as a typewritten publication, A Traveler's Notes: Indonesia, printed by Dalton when he was travelling in Australia.^[1] This led Dalton to form his company, Moon Publications, when he returned to California, and expand and publish his Travel Notes as a full book, the Indonesia Handbook.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

The earlier editions in the late 1970s were much smaller than the later editions. During the Suharto era the guide book was at times banned. By the time of the last edition, published in 1995, the book was 1,380 pages long.

Suharto was an Indonesian military leader and politician who served as the second President of Indonesia, holding the office for 31 years, from the ousting of Sukarno in 1967 until his resignation in 1998. He was widely regarded by foreign commentators as a dictator. However, his legacy is still debated at home and abroad.

Moon expanded its range to publish a large number of travel handbooks, following the successful format of the Indonesia Handbook, to cover other areas, for example the South Pacific Handbook^[2] by David Stanley.^[3]

Dalton sold his interest in Moon Publications in 1999, and the new owners dropped the title.

Other publications

The Department of Information of the Government of Indonesia published a volume with the same title between 1970 and 1977 - and it had been compiled and produced by Japenpa Foreign Languages Publishing Institute.

The term Government of Indonesia can have a number of different meanings. At its widest, it can refer collectively to the three traditional branches of government – the Executive branch, Legislative branch and Judicial branch. The term is also used colloquially to mean the Executive and Legislature together, as these are the branches of government responsible for day-to-day governance of the nation and lawmaking. At its narrowest, the term is used to refer to the Executive Branch in form of the Cabinet of Indonesia as this is the branches of government responsible for day-to-day governance.

In 1996 the title Indonesia Handbook was used for a new guide book by Footprint Books, publisher of the South American Handbook .^[4]

The South American Handbook is a travel guide to South America, published in the United Kingdom by Footprint Books. It is the longest-running travel guide in the English language. In 2010 it was chosen as the Best South American Handbook by Sounds and Colours.

Publication details

Dalton, Bill. 1982 Indonesia handbook 2nd ed., Chico, Calif.: Moon Publications.(rights in Hong Kong - location of printer) (486 p.) ISBN 978-0-9603322-0-5
Dalton, Bill. 1985 Indonesia handbook 3rd ed., updated and rev. Chico, CA : Moon Publications. (588 p.) ISBN 0-918373-04-2
Dalton, Bill. 1988 Indonesia handbook 4th ed. Chico, Calif., USA Moon Publications. (1058 p.) ISBN 0-918373-12-3
Dalton, Bill. 1995 Indonesia handbook 6th ed. Chico, Calif., USA Moon Publications. (1380 p.) ISBN 978-1-56691-062-0

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References

↑ Dalton, Bill (1973), Indonesia a traveller's notes, Moon Publications, retrieved 23 December 2014 and 1974 reprint Dalton, Bill (1974), Indonesia : a traveller's notes, [Moon Publications], ISBN 978-0-9598052-0-8
↑ Moon Handbooks South Pacific (2005) ISBN 978-1-56691-411-6
↑ Moon Travel Guides website: Green Travel Talk with David Stanley
↑ Joshua Eliot (1996) Indonesia Handbook ISBN 978-0-900751-78-3

External links

Biographical details and interview with Dalton

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[1] Dalton, Bill (1973), Indonesia a traveller's notes, Moon Publications, retrieved 23 December 2014 and 1974 reprint Dalton, Bill (1974), Indonesia : a traveller's notes, [Moon Publications], ISBN 978-0-9598052-0-8

[2] Moon Handbooks South Pacific (2005) ISBN 978-1-56691-411-6

[3] Moon Travel Guides website: Green Travel Talk with David Stanley

[4] Joshua Eliot (1996) Indonesia Handbook ISBN 978-0-900751-78-3