This account of Indonesia’s political and economic struggles details events from the final days of President Soeharto’s rule through the first two years of Wahid’s presidency. Drawing on interviews with political figures, government officials, prodemocracy activists, and paramilitary civilians, this book outlines the political crisis that pitted predemocracy reformers against corruptors, Islamists against nationalists, and the elite against the Indonesian people. This in-depth analysis of the world’s fourth largest nation and the world’s largest Muslim country recounts the collapse of the financial system, the downfall of Soeharto, and the relentless power struggles of an unscrupulous ruling class.