Angkor and the Khmer Civilization
Michael D. Coe
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| 'This is the best account of Angkor available in English. Clear, concise, yet comprehensive and up-to-date' | Professor Ben Kiernan,
author of 'The Pol Pot Regime' |
The ancient city of Angkor has fascinated Westerners since its rediscovery in the nineteenth century.
A great deal is now known about the brilliant Khmer civilization that flourished among the monsoon forests and rice paddies of mainland Southeast Asia.The Classic-period Khmer kings ruled over their part-Hindu and part-Buddhist empire from AD 802 for more than five centuries. This period saw the construction of many architectural masterpieces, including the huge capital city of Angkor, with the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious structure. Many other provincial centres, bound together by an impressive imperial road system, were scattered across the Cambodian Plain, northeast Thailand, southern Laos and the Delta of southern Vietnam.
Khmer civilization by no means disappeared with the gradual abandonment of Angkor that began in the fourteenth century. The final chapter describes the conversion of the Khmer to a different kind of Buddhism, the move of the capital down river to the Phnom Penh area, and the reorientation of the Khmer state to maritime trade.
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization presents a concise but complete picture of Khmer cultural history from the Stone Age until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1863, and is lavishly illustrated with maps, plans, drawings and photographs. Drawing on the latest archaeological research, the book brings to life the extraordinary society and culture of medieval Angkor, providing a fascinating synthesis for all interested in Southeast Asian culture, and in the rise and decline of ancient civilizations.
Michael D. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His many books include The Maya, Mexico, Breaking the Maya Code and, with his late wife Sophie D. Coe, The True History of Chocolate.
The Maya,
Mexico: From the Olmecs o the Aztecs
The True History of Chocolate
Final Report: An Archaeologist Excavates his Past
by Michael D. Coe
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|  |  | | | | ISBN 0500284423 | | ISBN-13 978-0500284421 | | | | 24.1 x 15.9 cm | | Paperback | | 240pp | | First published 2004 | | | | £12.95 | | | |  | | | | 
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