Includes index.

Getting the basics right -- going it alone -- building an army from scratch -- Britain pulls out -- Surviving without a hinterland -- creating a financial center -- winning over the unions -- a fair, not welfare society -- the communists self-destruct -- straddling the middle ground -- nurturing and attracting talent -- many tongues, one language -- keeping the government clean -- greening Singapore -- Managing the media -- conductor of an orchestra -- in search of space -- regional and international -- ups and downs with Malaysia -- Indonesia: from foe to friend -- building ties with Thailand, the Philippines, and Brunei -- Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia: Coming to terms with the modern world -- Asean -- Unpromising start, promising future -- East Asia in crisis 1997-1999 -- Inside the commonwealth club -- new bonds with Britain -- Ties with Australia and New Zealand -- South Asia's legends and leaders -- following Britain into Europe -- the Soviet Union -- an empire implodes -- America: the anticommunist anchorman -- strategic accord with the United States -- America's new agenda -- Japan: Asia's first miracle -- Lessons from Japan -- Korea: at the crossroads -- Hong Kong's transition -- Taiwan: the other China -- China: the dragon with a long tail -- Den Xiaoping's China -- China Beyond Beijing -- Tiananmen -- China: to be rich is glorious -- Winding up -- Passing the Baton -- My family -- Epilogue.

"Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis?"

"The story of that transformation is told here by Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This history is recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who forged ahead and brought about most of these changes."

"Delving into his own notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city-state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time."--Jacket.