Orchid Press - Bibliotheca Asiatica

Cambodia

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Angkor and Cambodia in the Sixteenth Century:
According to Portuguese and Spanish Sources
by B-P Groslier. Translated from French by Michael Smithies
First English edition Orchid Press 2005 (French edition PUF 1958). 208 pp., 8 b & w line drawings and maps, 24.5 x 17.5 cm., hardbound
ISBN-10: 974-524-053-2 $35.00
ISBN-13: 978-974-524-053-7

First English translation of an important study of the records of early Spanish and Portuguese missionaries and adventurers, detailing their interactions with the Khmers. These comprise most of the very few surviving early first-hand accounts of the Khmers and Angkor-and the sole records of Western visitors-four hundred years prior to the arrival of the French in Indochina. Includes detailed observations on Khmer architecture, royalty, religion, society and economy of the period just prior to Angkor's final decline. Groslier concludes with a summary of observations of later visitors to Angkor, including Dutch, Japanese and finally French.

[Read a review of from the Journal of the Siam Society]

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The Armies of Angkor
Military Structure and Weaponry of the Khmers
by Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h, translated from the French by Michael Smithies
First English edition, 2007. 200 pp., 4 plans and 154 line drawings, bibliography, index, 24.5 x 17.5 cm., hardcover
ISBN-10: 974-524-096-6 $40.00
ISBN-13: 978-974-524-096-4

The Khmers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are best remembered by the magnificent monuments that they left the world-the ruins of Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Banteay Chmar and other relics at Siem Reap now attract over a million visitors annually.
The Khmers, as well as visionary architects and builders, were by far the most formidable fightingforce of Southeast Asia, and much of their fabled wealth was generated directly from the spoilsof their conquests. In the present volume, drawing on depictions of warfare found on the stonereliefs of the monuments mentioned above, French scholar Jacq-Hergoualc'h reconstructs a vividimage of the Khmer army, providing insight into its organization, technology and strategies.
Essential reading not only for those with interest in the history of war and weaponry but for all who seek a better understanding of the brilliant culture of the creators of Angkor.

[Read a review from the Journal of the Siam Society]