Travels with a Teakwood Desk

On arrival in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1969 with his wife and young daughter, Alan Smith, a twenty-eight-year-old research student, was shaken by the pervasive presence of armed military in the airport, at the same time enchanted by the warm, clove-scented air. In a captivating retelling of his personal experiences, Alan, turning seventy, begins writing to share his insight into a life full of j...