Much information, here. But most of it doesn't come from Nigel Barley. Instead, he strings together overly long quotations. It gets worse as you go along. Barley does have a thesis: that James Brooke's tendency towards homosexuality/pederasty motivated his actions in becoming the first white man to rule in Sarawak, carving out a region of Borneo under control of the Sultan of Brunei. In effect, it's an extensive exploration of sublimated sexual desire. In order to carry it off, Barley throws out one source after another. And he doesn't need to. The task of a historian/biographer should be to make a point, contextualize it, and then use cited material that supports the argument. Barley simply says, "oh, hell, let'em speak for themselves; I'll throw in a comment or two as things develop." That is why there is a great deal of knowledge in the book and why it's not a waste of time to read it. He should have published a series of critical, annotated diaries, however. Otherwise, the writing is eccentric. It jumps and hops and moves like a bee from one plant to another. Poor transitions. Just all of a sudden, you're there. And, all of a sudden, I'm through.