East Timor is at last, and at terrible human cost, firmly on the road to independence. Exploring the significance of its passage to freedom-for its people, for Asia, and for the world-this multi-voiced volume offers a comprehensive overview of this newest nation's travails and triumphs in an international context. The contributors-a mix of scholars and activists-explore the dynamics of the long struggle for independence and show how the case of East Timor, both during and after the Cold War, provides a litmus test for issues of international responsibility and reconciliation. The book includes remarkable eyewitness accounts of the 1999 UN-sponsored referendum and the concomitant militia violence supported by the Indonesian military. Compelling poetry and photographs bring an additional rich dimension to the work.