'Dr. Ismail's writings and speeches, and his letters to the Tunku, covering a variety of foreign policy issues, are a valuable asset in understanding the unique role he played in the nation's history. He was without doubt the primary architect of Malayan (Malaysian) Foreign Policy'. - Tengku Tan Sri Dato' Seri Ahmad Rithauddeen, Former Foreign Minister of Malaysia. 'Not only was Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman Malaysia's first ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the United Nations, he was also Foreign Affairs Minister in 1959-60. Later, as long-time Home Affairs Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and occasionally Acting Prime Minister, he played a decisive role in making neutrality the pillar of Malaysia's foreign policy. This important collection of notes he wrote to the Tunku in 1958 and of his speeches made in 1957-58 at the UN are being published for the very first time. It gives us a window into his seminal thinking and makes us understand the contribution he made to Malaysian nation-building in the early years. Tawfik Ismail and Ooi Kee Beng deserve kudos for compiling these into one volume and for providing elaborate footnoting that presents the reader with an intriguing picture of the Cold War year of 1958. The book is a 'must read' for the diplomatic corps and Malaysian foreign policy analysts'. - Johan Saravanamuttu, Former Political Science Professor and Dean, Science University Malaysia (USM).

This is the unfinished autobiography of Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, the medical doctor who held key government positions in the first two decades of Malaysian nation building, and who was an important early player within UMNO, the country's dominant political party. Drifting into Politics was found among the private papers that were handed over to the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in 2005 by Tun Dr Ismail's eldest son, Mohd Tawfik. The family has asked for it to be published in 2015, this year being the 100th anniversary of Tun Dr Ismail's birth. This is an apt time indeed to make his reflections on his own life available to the world. This is also the third book to come out of the Tun Dr Ismail papers which are kept at ISEAS Library. The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time, the biography written by Ooi Kee Beng and published in 2006 is ISEAS's all-time bestseller, and it brought Tun Dr Ismail back with great impact into Malaysian political analysis and discourse. It has been translated into Malay and Chinese. The second book- Malaya's First Year in the United Nations - has also been welcomed by scholars of Malaysia's foreign affairs and diplomacy. This present volume continues Malaysia's rediscovery of Tun Dr Ismail.