Sukarno and the Indonesian coup; the untold story

Reference & Research Book News, August, 2007

Sukarno and the Indonesian coup; the untold story.

Hunter, Helen-Louise.

Praeger Security International

2007

200 pages

$75.00

Hardcover

DS644

The coup referred to by Hunter (a political analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency for 23 years) in the title of her book is not the toppling of Indonesian president Sukarno and assumption of power by General Suharto, but instead the preceding failed attempt to establish a military junta by the "30th of September Movement" in response to an alleged CIA-sponsored opposing coup conspiracy by the so-called "Council of Generals." Hunter examines these events in reverse chronological order, attempting to establish that at the heart of the "30th of September Movement" was a secret organization run by high- level members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) that planned, with President Sukarno's active cooperation, to institute a socialist state under Sukarno's leadership, later to be succeeded by PKI Chairman Aidit. These charges have been floated before--inconclusively--by supporters of General Suharto and his later CIA-backed coup and, therefore, one might presume that Hunter would attempt to provide some form of new and conclusive evidence to prove her case. However, she provides no footnotes and gives no indication as to the sources of her narrative.

([c]20072005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)