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Tom van den Berge, H.J. van Mook 1894-1965. Een vrij en gelukkig Indonésie. (Bussum: Thoth, 2014) 416 p. ISBN 978-90-68686-265
This biography has been long overdue. In the introduction to his book on H.J. van Mook the author rightfully points out that other key figures in Indonesian history have long since found their biographers. Given the importance of the period 1945-1950 for Dutch and Indonesian history he argues that Van Mook - Luitenant-Gouvemeur-Generaal during the Indonesian struggle for independence - should be among people like Soekarno, Hatta, Drees and Spoor. There is no arguing here, even though two publications on Van Mook appeared as early as 1982.1 These books however focused mainly on the last stage of Van Mook's colonial civil service career. Other aspects of his professional and personal life escaped the attention. Not in the least because the personal archive of Van Mook was not accessible at the time. After receiving permission of the descendants Tom van den Berge was able to research this treasure trove containing over 2,500 letters, a large number of photos and other unique documents (p. 10).2
The author arranges his abundant source material chronologically into nine chapters. The titles of these chapters basically reflect the development of Van Mook's professional career except of course for those on his youth and retirement. Van den Berge's attention is divided evenly between the chapters with the exception of Van Mook's years as the last Dutch governor-general in Indonesia from 1944 till 1948 (Chapter 6). Unsurprisingly, this tumultuous episode in the life of the main character is dealt with in a substantially larger chapter.
At first sight the book's storyline appears quite conventional. The reader watches Van Mook growing up on the island of Java while receiving his primary and secondary education. In the Netherlands he obtains a degree at...