<span><span><span>This facsimile edition of Alex Josey’s </span><span style="font-weight:bold; font-style:italic;">Lee Kuan Yew: The Crucial Years</span><span> (1968) contains practically everything that Singapore’s first prime minister had said politically since his student days at Cambridge right up to his speeches at the 1971 Commonwealth Prime Minister’s Conference held in Singapore. </span></span><br /><span><span> </span></span><br /><span><span>More than a political biography of a remarkable Asian statesman, this indispensable volume shows how Lee successfully created an independent multiracial nation while tackling and solving problems which confront all developing states. The account ends in 1970 when Singapore was faced with the gloomy prospect of the withdrawal of British troops in 1971, and the necessity of creating, almost overnight, a credible Singapore defence force. </span></span><br /><span><span> </span></span></span>