From the Indonesian Republic’s onset, there has been some form of military participation in political life – the more significant and interesting aspect of the Indonesian Army’s distinctive history. Volume 2 in this three-volume set covers the assassination of army leaders on October 1, 1965, the massacre and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of suspected communists, elimination of the Indonesian Communist Party, the ouster of President Sukarno, General Soeharto's rise to power, consolidation of the New Order military regime, the suppression of all forms of free expression and dissent, the brutal invasion and occupation of tiny East Timor, separatist insurgencies on the periphery of the archipelago, General Benny Moerdani's reign as the country's second most powerful man, Soeharto's turn toward Islam and his increasingly desperate efforts to preserve power at all costs during the late-1990s – setting the stage for the nationwide reformasi movement, the May 1998 riots and Soeharto's abdication – the subject of Volume 3. Written in a journalistic style, these three volumes provide readers insights into Indonesian culture and help them understand why soldiers of the Indonesian Army have behaved the way they do – often in ways, from a western perspective, that must be considered less-than-honorable.