Facing the Cambodian Past

These nineteen essays cover a range of themes and problems as perceived by a leading student of Cambodia’s past. They include studies of the leper-king myth at Angkor, post-Angkorean normative poems, nineteenth-century perceptions of the moral order, and royally sponsored human sacrifices in rural Cambodia in the 1870s. Other essays deal with aspects of the colonial period and the revolutionary era (1975–1979). The collection closes with two essays written sixteen years apart that deal with what the author calls "the tragedy of Cambodian history."

About the Author

David Chandler is a Professor of History and research director at the Center of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University. His previous books include A History of Cambodia, The Tragedy of Cambodian History, and Brother Number One: A Political Biography of Pol Pot.