Willem van Schendel is a Professor of Modern South Asian History at theUniversity of Amsterdam. He is one of the leading experts on Bangladesh and has written many books on the region including “The History of Bangladesh; Embedding Agricultural Commodities: Using historical evidence, the 1840s -1940s; and The Bengal Borderland; Beyond State and Nation in South Asia – Anthem South Asian Studies". Co-edited volumes include Labour Migration and Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Critical Perspectives and The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics.