August, 2026

Our favourite and most impressive book of the week has to be the classic Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo by the anthropologist Henry Ling Roth .

In two solid volumes published in 1896, Roth uses an extraordinary range of field notes and observations from different sources to cover every aspect of the local culture.

The heavily illustrated pages include descriptions and drawings of farming and fishing, crafts, villages and communities, headdresses and ornaments, weapons, right through to the customs of drying heads.

When we think of Sarawak and Borneo today, we think of orang-utans, the great wealth of the neighbouring Sultan of Brunei, and adventurers, both fictional, such as Conrad’s Lord Jim, and historical such as the Brooke family ruling as the White Rajahs of Sarawak.

Roth was a pioneer in anthropological studies, and succeeded in writing a great work that continues to have academic and popular appeal.