Bali Chroniclesrelates the story of Bali"the paradise island of the Pacific"its rulers, its people, and its encounters, often traumatic, with the Western world. Spanning the entire period since the beginning of recorded Balinese history, it sketches the history, economics, culture, and politics of the island as a background to the dilemma confronting the Balinese: the choice between economic decay or cultural decadence in the face of "cultural tourism", Bali's only really promising industry. For a thousand years or more, the peculiar splendor of Balinese-Hindu culture came as close as possible to satisfying all the economic, social, religious, and artistic needs of its people in one aesthetic package. The changing economic scene, the complications of domestic and international politics, and the arrival of European visitors in the 1920s and 1930s who soon made the island's magical charm well known to the outside world, all impacted on the "real, unspoiled" Bali. This is a story about the vulnerabilityand durabilityof an anachronistic system in a chaotically changing modern world. A Foreword by Bali expert, Dr. Adrian Vickers from Wollongang University, places Willard Hanna's book in the context of the mid-1970s when it was written and the impact of the Western world and tourism since then.