Recruit to Revolution: Adventure and Politics during the Indonesian Struggle for Independence by John Coast (review)

John Coast provides us with a true adventure story that moves across countries and continents, centering on Siam (Thailand), Indonesia, and England, with side trips to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. He tells of meeting important people and others who are less so, from presidents, prime ministers, and high state officials to airplane pilots, mechanics, and even some highly unprincipled characters trying to profit from unsettled political conditions in Southeast Asia. He is at home in Siam, where he keeps a residence, because he likes the lifestyle, has close friends in Bangkok, and is known to many of the country's leading politicians. Although not a dancer himself but rather a connoisseur and impresario, he arranges for a Javanese dance ensemble to visit London, apparently the first in the post-World War II era, and thereby enhances his reputation among the London theater crowd. In the long run he is to become closely identified with theatrical work, especially as an agent and a seeker of talent. But in the adventure recounted in Recruit to Revolution, Coast is committed to assisting the emerging Indonesian state gain its independence, and goes all out in his efforts to help the Indonesians reach that goal.

His engagement with the Indonesian cause began during an earlier adventure, when he served with the British army and was taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942 and forced to work on a railroad bridge in Burma. He met and became friends with Indonesian prisoners, learning Malay-Indonesian phrases and becoming familiar with Javanese dance forms and styles. This identification with those prisoners was transformed into sympathy for the Indonesian republican cause at war's end, when he was released by the Japanese and sent home by British army officials. For Coast, it became almost an obsession thereafter to be identified with Indonesian independence in a personal and meaningful way. He never regarded the Dutch effort to regain colonial control over the Indonesian area as anything but an unjustified attempt to reinstitute a system of exploitation for Dutch economic benefit. Consequently, he lambasts the Dutch continually, regarding their efforts as guided by motives totally inimical to the Indonesian populace. On the other hand, he embraces Indonesian officials' corruption, incompetence, and bumbling efforts to govern as understandable and even endearing.

He began his service with the Republic of Indonesia as a blockade runner, arranging air flights from southern Siam, usually Songkhla, via Singapore over Bukit Tinggi in Sumatra, and on to Yogyakarta in central Java. The flights had to be unscheduled, as the Dutch patrolled the area and occasionally intercepted them. Because the service was used primarily by businessmen and government officials, the flights concentrated on passenger service and did not haul much cargo. Coast then moved on to public relations, giving advice to officials of the Republic in Yogyakarta about how to build and exploit sentiment among Europeans concerning the Republic's challenges. Eventually he was allowed to make English-language radio broadcasts and distribute printed flyers. He went abroad to look after the airline situation just prior to the Second Dutch Military Action in late 1948 and, consequently, was not swept up by the Dutch when they invaded Yogyakarta. He became a propagandist for the republican cause the next year—he contacted foreign officials and urged responses against the Dutch military action and campaigned for the release of incarcerated Indonesian officials. In particular, he visited London during this period and coordinated with the Subandrio husband-and-wife team in working for British support for the Republic. He later was part of Indonesia's support-staff delegation at the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference in The Hague (August–November 1949). He returned to Southeast Asia for the final events conveying and marking Indonesian sovereignty at the end of 1949.

The list of Indonesians with whom he became acquainted is impressive. He went on an all-day...