The edited volume by Pierre Le Roux, Alexander Adelaar, and Bernard Moizo brings together 27 authors from around the world in celebration of Bernard Sellato and his contributions to Borneo studies. This volume is comprised of 29 articles, ranging in length and depth from short research notes to longer analyses and includes a 31-page section detailing the writings of Bernard Sellato from 1975 up to the date of the publication of this volume. The focus of this book is on the research done in Borneo, however, it also includes articles focused on relevant topics that seem outside the scope of interest. It is important for readers to note that half of the chapters in this volume are in French and the other half in English. The volume starts with each of the editors writing about Bernard Sellato from their own perspectives. Pierre Le Roux, writing in French, focuses on establishing Sellato's status in the field of Borneo studies. He discusses his life, his work, his awards, his major contributions to Borneo studies, and his pioneering comparative work (see also King in this volume). Alexander Adelaar, writing in English, also presents a brief biography of Sellato and highlights his body of work, particularly his major contributions to the study of material culture, and his impact as a pioneer in the holistic research approach (p. 85). He also notes that ‘He Sellato has managed not to become constrained by anthropological theories, and has been able to keep that open mind, in which first-hand experience with the local languages and customs and the primary data come before theory’ (p. 91), emphasising the importance and value of Sellato's many years of fieldwork. Bernard Moizo (writing in French) reaffirms the importance of Sellato's holistic approach, his status as a pioneer, and brings to the fore Sellato's work with non-government organisations (NGOs) and the Borneo Research Council (where Sellato is curently co-editor of the Borneo Research Bulletin). He also highlights that Sellato is a ‘boulimique de travail’—a workaholic—who was never satisfied with the partial approach but was always eager to fully understand the nomadic people in Borneo (p. 98). While this approach, in which each editor reflects on the work and the man who is Bernard Sellato, seems somewhat redundant, the fact that at least one of the biographical chapters is in English is helpful to non-French readers; conversely the fact that there are biographical chapters in French is also helpful to those French readers. Finding a way to categorise this volume is challenging. Sometimes called a festschrift, a collection of critical writings that honour the topical and theoretical contributions of an individual over their career, or sometimes called a liber amicorum, a collection of essays written by friends and colleagues in praise of an individual and often containing personal stories and anecdotes, volumes such as Borneo at Heart typically bring together the original writings of colleagues and former students in honour of a professor who is retiring or celebrating another such milestone. If one considers Borneo at Heart a festschrift one would expect it to relate directly to the central themes or theoretical focus of Sellato's research. If one considers Borneo at Heart a libre amoricum one would expect more personal stories and anecdotes. Borneo at Heart is, in fact, an eclectic collection of articles, some related to the prominent themes in Sellato's work, some inspired by Sellato's work, some tangentially related to the work of Sellato, and some seemingly not related at all to Sellato's work. What would be helpful to the reader would be to have each contributor to the volume clearly articulate the context of why their submission is offered in honour of Sellato. A good example of this is presented by Rémon, who, in his article on migration and settlement among the Riung people of the Flores, clearly states that his article has no direct link to any of the many themes developed in Sellato's work but instead is simply an homage to Sellato because of the great freedom Sellato, as Rémon's supervisor, allowed him when he was a student (p. 904). Regardless of how this volume is described, it is clear that Bernard Sellato, the argonaut of the title, is in fact a major contributor to the field of Borneo studies, as a researcher, as an author, and as an academic engaged in the support of others working in Borneo. It should be noted that when Sellato was the 2004 recipient of the Borneo Research Council Medal of Excellence the encomium noted that he received the medal not only for his extraordinarily productive academic work in Borneo, but for his support of others in the field of Borneo studies, a fact that is further substantiated, over 20 years later, by the chapters in this volume. While there is no standardised length for a festschrift, they often hover at 200–600 pages. Borneo at Heart, by contrast, may rival recent world festschrift records at a daunting 1083 pages (including the beginning acknowledgements and the biographical data and table of contents at the end). However, a dedicated reader, who finishes the volume, will be rewarded by having gained a deeper understanding of both past and present research being conducted in Borneo, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of the value and importance of the holistic, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary lenses that Sellato employs in his own research. As Victor T. King writes, in his chapter in this volume titled ‘Revisiting social organisation and identity in Borneo’, Sellato ‘is one of the few anthropologists bold enough to conceptualise Borneo cultures as a whole, to embark on wide-ranging comparative studies and to place the populations which inhabit the island in an ecological and historical context’ (p. 570). The belief that research should be holistic, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary, is exemplified by Bernard Sellato's work and is, therefore, fittingly, a meta theme in this book. The importance of this approach is most clearly articulated in the articles by Alexander Adelaar and Philippe Hamman. Adelaar, a linguist, explores the history of the settlement of Madagascar, particularly in relation to Borneo, in his article titled ‘Quelques vues sur l'histoire du peuplement de Madagascar (‘Some views on the history of the settlement of Madagascar’). While he acknowledges that his article explores the topic from the perspective of linguistics, he argues, based on the fact that recent DNA research offers important evidence regarding the settlement of Madagascar, that ‘la recherche impliquée est d'une nature essentiellement multidisciplinaire’ the research involved is essentially of a multidisciplinary nature (p. 104). Philippe Hamman, a sociologist, in the chapter titled ‘D'une nature interdisciplinaire … ou appréhender “en continu” les rapports natures-sociétés’ (‘Of an interdisciplinary nature … or understanding the “continuous” nature–society relationship’) shines a spotlight on Sellato's work that brings together history, archaeology, botany, linguistics, and fieldwork, exemplified in Sellato's notable volume titled Plaited Arts from the Borneo Rainforest. He also highlights that Sellato brings together academic and applied anthropology successfully in the context of his work with NGOs, foundations, and corporations. Hamman goes on to explore the human–nature theme, a theme Sellato also explores. Rejecting John Stuart Mill's understanding of man and nature, and settling on Sellato's understanding which is ‘la vision “en continu” des rapports natures–sociétés’ the vision is that the nature–society relationship is continuous (p. 403), Hamman argues that this allows one to rethink social and territorial practices, starting with established divisions and classifications, and, on a reflexive level, the production of knowledge and disciplinary knowledge, and to think about the position of the researcher in these worlds, human and non-human (p. 403). Aside from the meta theme just discussed there is a lack of a guiding focus in this volume. Given the magnitude of data presented in Borneo at Heart, the eclectic nature of the chapters and the book being bilingual, the reader would benefit from some form of wayfinding. Unfortunately, in its absence, the chapters are simply presented alphabetically by author. As a result, the reader is left to their own devices to make sense of the offerings. One option is simply to read the volume from beginning to end, a somewhat daunting task, particularly if one is not bilingual. The other option is to read the volume disciplinarily. That is, one can choose to read articles by anthropologists, ethnographers, linguists, archeologists, prehistorians, historians, or, by the single ethnobotanist, museum curator, museographer, biologist, sociologist, or market gardener. Another option for the categorisation of information in this volume is thematically. In addition to the theme of holism there are multiple sub themes that one can tease out to comprehend the volume. Upon analysis the following themes emerge: Sellato's biographical and academic data; the relationship between Madagascar and Borneo; linguistics; material culture; nomenclature; architecture; ethnography; psychological anthropology; history; archeology; social change; identity; agriculture; and ethnobotany. There are also articles that strive to challenge the status quo (see Victor King and Lye Tuck-Poe), those that rely on old data, and those that are in essence brief research notes. And, of course, many of the articles do not fit neatly into a single category! One of the interesting aspects of this volume is the inclusion of ethnographic data based on research done more than 50 years ago. The brief research note by Jérôme Rousseau titled ‘La Stratification chez les Kayan: Un contradiction entre théorie et pratique’ (‘Social stratification among the Kayan: A contradiction between theory and practice’), relies on data from the 1970s. Pierre Le Roux's extensive article, titled ‘Reconnaissances à Bornéo. Rivières Kelai et Segah en 1989 et rivières Tubu et Malinau en 1990 (province de Kalimantan Timur, Indonésie’) (‘Reconnaissance in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo: The Kelai and Segah Rivers in 1989 and the Tubu and Malinau Rivers in 1990’) relies on data collected in 1989–1990. While one might question the choice of including articles based on data that was collected in the past, Heppell, in his article ‘Skeumorphs and Iban history’, argues persuasively that ‘it can't be exaggerated how important … is good and accurate ethnography’ (p. 425), regardless of the timeframe, because such historical and ethnographic sources are essential to ‘augment the indigenous historical record’ (p. 425), and quoting Derek Freeman's 1975 ‘The Iban of Sarawak and their religion. A review article’, he further argues that ‘human beings have memories of what has gone before and these memories, in various ways, influence their on-going behavior’ (p. 425). This same argument applies to field notes, which Freeman believed should be considered historical documents and made available to scholars as well as the indigenous community from whence they originated (p. 465). In an era when indigenous communities globally are seeking to reclaim their histories and languages, after decades of impactful rapid social change, one cannot underestimate the value of these historical and ethnographic records in supporting indigenous efforts to regain a sense of identity and to revive their cultures. Pierre Le Roux's chapter in this volume is an example of a critically important historical and ethnographic resource. His lengthy and detailed description of his reconnaissance trip in East Kalimantan in 1989–1990 is richly illustrated with photographs, maps, and drawings. While the beginning impacts of social change, in the form of government mandated resettlement villages and extractive industries moving into Borneo, are already being felt at this time, this chapter is a snapshot of a moment in time that is now gone (p. 627). Thus, the ethnographic and linguistic data, combined with the visual resources included in this chapter, serve as an excellent resource for those communities wishing to reclaim their past. Also included in this discussion of historical data in this volume is the prehistoric data presented by Pierre-Yves Manguin and Hubert Forestier and Michel Grenet. Manguin reflects, in his article titled ‘Borneo and Southeast Asia in early historical times’, on the assertion by early researchers that ‘West Borneo was included in the empire of Srivijaya just like the Malay peninsula’ (p. 771). His reflection on Borneo and Southeast Asia in early historic times is based on the recurring conversations he and Sellato had concerning ‘the vestiges left in the Island of Borneo during the Indianised period in Indonesian History’ (p. 771). Both Manguin and Sellato share the hope that one day someone will compile an archeological map of the island of Borneo, which would be a significant contribution to understanding the ethno-history of Borneo. Hubert Forestier and Michel Grenet, in their article titled ‘la Préhistoire de la pierre taillée à Bornéo’, pays homage not only to Sellato, but to the inventiveness of the prehistoric stone tools. Because little is known or understood about the prehistory of Borneo, aside from the famous sites such as the Niah Caves, this article shines a light on the fact that the island of Borneo is an untapped field of study for those interested in prehistory. This is particularly true for those interested in human adaptations to a tropical climate (p. 311). Pascal Couderc in his chapter ‘Aux origines du tahtum. Épopée et histoire au sud de Bornéo’ (‘On the origins of the tahtum: Epics and history in southern Borneo’), brings us into the 21st century with an anecdote regarding a social media exchange between the Uut Danum and the Ngaju regarding the meaning of the tahtum, heroic epics; also up for debate on social media is the question regarding to whom the tahtum belongs (p. 263). The point of this article is to attempt to explain the existence of two more or less independent traditions of tahtum. Adele Baer also looks at myth in her discussion of ‘The edible child and the myth of the origin of food plants in Southeast Asia’. Her comparative look at this one myth that appears widely in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei is, one can assume, a nod to Sellato's practice of looking at Borneo as a whole using a comparative lens. However, she does not explicitly articulate this in her writing. Also looking at indigenous knowledge comparatively, and as a way to detect and reveal the process of change is Miyako Koizumi's article ‘Variation in ethnobotanical knowledge among Eastern and Western Penan. The role of local factors’. However, like Baer we do not know why Koizumi has presented this article as an homage to Sellato. In this thoughtful discussion Koizumi argues that ‘knowledge that is possessed by a person cannot be handed down to another person in a manner similar to giving things. People incorporate their own experiences and deliberation into what they have learned from others’ (p. 606). Looking at the process of change, both social and linguistic, in different parts of Borneo, are the articles by Valerie Mashman, titled ‘The song of Dayang. 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Laura P. Appell‐Warren (Thu,) studied this question.