Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Maps and Illustrations -- Prologue -- Acknowledgment -- Notes on the Authors -- Chapter I: Geography and Traditional Warfare in Pre-British Southeast Asia: The Place of Singapore -- The Nature of Early Southeast Asian Warfare -- The Srivijayan Era, A.D. 100-1000 -- A New Phase: The Rise of Malayu-Jambi, 1025-1075 -- The Classical Singapore Phase, 1275-1400 -- The Melaka Phase, 1400-1511 -- The Johore-Riau Phase, 1511-1780 -- The Dutch-Bugis Phase, 1700-1819 -- Chapter II: Why the British Came to Singapore -- Crossroads of Empire: The Sea Route to China -- 1819 and Early Growing Pains -- Chapter III: From Fieldworks to Fort Canning, 1823-1866 -- Creating a Defended Port -- Threats, Forts and the Basis of Defence -- A First-class Field Fortification -- Chapter IV: Britannia Rules the Waves? Singapore and Imperial Defence, 1867-1891 -- Defending a Crown Colony -- Russians, Guns, Money, and Bureaucrats -- Chapter V: The Weakest Go to the Wall: From Money to Mutiny, 1892-1918 -- Paying for Defence: The Paper War -- The Great War and Singapore: Cruisers, Volunteers and Mutineers -- Chapter VI: A Keystone of Imperial Defence or a Millstone Around Britain's Neck? Singapore 1919-1941 -- The Genesis of the "Singapore Strategy," 1918-1929 -- Developments on the International Stage, 1929-1937 -- The Acid Test for the "Singapore Strategy" -- Chapter VII Too Little, Too Late: Preparing for War, 1941-1942 -- Strike South -- Disjointed Defence -- Chapter VIII: Bitter Harvest: The Defence and Fall of Singapore -- The Fall of Malaya -- The Naked Island -- The Fall of Singapore -- Chapter IX: Living under the Rising Sun: Singapore and the Japanese Occupation, 1942-1945 -- Coming to Terms with the Occupation: The View of the Local Singaporeans -- Life as a Prisoner of the Japanese -- Life as a Civilian Internee.

The Japanese Administration's Role during the Occupation -- Singapore's Military Significance -- Chapter X: Old Wine in a New Bottle: Singapore and British Defence Policy, 1945-1962 -- Return to Singapore -- British Defence Policy and the Role of Singapore -- The Growth and Use of the Base and its Impact on Singapore -- Chapter XI: End of Empire: From Union to Withdrawal -- From Union to Confrontation -- Withdrawal: End of an Era -- 1 Notes on the Forts of Nineteenth-century Singapore -- Appendices -- 2 Wartime Preparations to Defend Singapore Island -- 3 Controversies surrounding the Surrender of Singapore, February 1942 -- 4 War Crimes Trials in Singapore, 1946--1948 -- Glossary -- List of Abbreviations -- Notes to the Text -- Bibliography -- Index.