“For a long time, archaeologists believed that the sea nomads left no material evidence to history, but this joint publication by Galipaud, Bellina-Pryce and Blench is a first attempt to refute the claim. . . Contributors to the book track down sea nomads through archaeology and historical sources, and uncover their  contribution in regional socio-political landscapes, past and present.”

Asia Media Centre

“The volume presents plenty of interesting facts that counter the rugged and simplified image of sea nomads as modern primitives or lawless outcasts. Careful ethnographic, archaeological and historical research highlights their indispensable role in the development of trade networks in insular Southeast Asia. Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia is also a valuable addition to woefully scarce literature on the topic.”

Nikkei Asia

"This edited volume presents a multidisciplinary approach to the study of 'sea nomads' in a bid to better understand their role in Southeast Asia’s past. The book, which consists of an introduction and thirteen chapters, includes papers from various disciplines, ranging from archaeology to linguistics, anthropology, geography and genetics to contest the idea that the marginalized communities we have come to know as sea nomads are without a past."

Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia)

"We sincerely appreciate the authors and editors for their exceptional work, and we are confident that this book will offer crucial insights for future endeavors. Its historical records are of particular value in the study of sea nomads and mark a significant addition to the existing knowledge about this group of people in Southeast Asia. We encourage continued research, collaboration, and cultural exchange on sea nomads in the region propelled by this remarkable contribution."

Southeast Asian Studies

"While it may be challenging for general readers, Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia is nevertheless an important work that could shift opinion on a group of Southeast Asian peoples who have often, and unjustly, become scapegoats for perceived ills in terrestrial communities. After all, it was the sea nomads who predicted and escaped the Asian tsunami that battered the coastlines of 14 countries on Dec. 26, 2004, killing more than 200,000 people on land, according to most estimates. Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia helps to highlight such diverse natural sensibility, locate its origins in time, language and history, and give it an academically sound base on which mainstream readers can gain a valuable understanding of this little-known group."

Nikkei Asia

“Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature concerned with the seafaring peoples of maritime Southeast Asia. . . . [it] offers much that is certain to interest, challenge and inform serious students of maritime Southeast Asia.”

Borneo Research Bulletin

“[This book] offers impressive studies from an array of disciplines—archaeology, anthropology, history, linguistics, genomics— to piece together the longue-durée of 'sea nomad' cultures in the Southeast Asian region… The editors and contributors to this volume have made a major contribution to our knowledge of the peoples of the island Southeast Asian world and the extraordinary richness of the socio-ecological environment and heritage they have pioneered for what we now know to have been millennia. The stage is set for a genuine effort to turn that heritage into rights.”

Indonesia