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Khmer: The Lost Empire of Cambodia
The Khmer Empire of ancient Cambodia has as its capital the magnificent palace and temple complex of Angkor, today a mysterious and beautiful ruin deep in the jungle of Southeast Asia. This book rediscovers the lost world of the Khmer empire, reveals its art and architecture, traces its Chinese and Indian influences, and describes its rise and fall.
- GenresNonfictionHistoryAsiaArt
128 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 9, 2021
if history could be swallowed like a pill
I've always liked those National Geographic maps and charts which resemble three ring circuses--several things are going on on each page or in each corner. There are so many things to explore, you feel a sense of discovery while still curled up on your sofa. This small book is like that--loaded with good photographs, a few (perhaps too few) maps, and insets of all kinds. The text is probably on the slight side, but if you read and absorb what the author writes, you will come away with a good grounding in the Khmer empire of the period 800-1400. Always strongly influenced by India, the Khmer civilization came and went, like Pharaonic Egypt, without any ongoing influence in the world today. The Cambodians of our times preserve the architectural heritage of their ancestors, but their culture is different. A reader may find out about the great kings, the organization of their kingdom, and peruse some interesting excerpts from Zhou Daguan, a Chinese traveler of the 13th century; George Coedes, a French scholar of Southeast Asian history, and Bernard Groslier, the last French curator of Angkor and an art historian. There are many other, more scholarly books on the Khmers, Angkor, and Southeast Asian history, but if you want a relatively painless introduction with a lot of basic facts, you should give this one a try. I thought that it was like a kind of pill to be swallowed. After a short time, you know something about Southeast Asia ! However, despite the title, you will discover that neither Angkor nor Cambodia were ever lost. The Europeans didn't know about the temples and palaces in the jungle, but Cambodians did. Another myth crumbles. Oh, well.
I've always liked those National Geographic maps and charts which resemble three ring circuses--several things are going on on each page or in each corner. There are so many things to explore, you feel a sense of discovery while still curled up on your sofa. This small book is like that--loaded with good photographs, a few (perhaps too few) maps, and insets of all kinds. The text is probably on the slight side, but if you read and absorb what the author writes, you will come away with a good grounding in the Khmer empire of the period 800-1400. Always strongly influenced by India, the Khmer civilization came and went, like Pharaonic Egypt, without any ongoing influence in the world today. The Cambodians of our times preserve the architectural heritage of their ancestors, but their culture is different. A reader may find out about the great kings, the organization of their kingdom, and peruse some interesting excerpts from Zhou Daguan, a Chinese traveler of the 13th century; George Coedes, a French scholar of Southeast Asian history, and Bernard Groslier, the last French curator of Angkor and an art historian. There are many other, more scholarly books on the Khmers, Angkor, and Southeast Asian history, but if you want a relatively painless introduction with a lot of basic facts, you should give this one a try. I thought that it was like a kind of pill to be swallowed. After a short time, you know something about Southeast Asia ! However, despite the title, you will discover that neither Angkor nor Cambodia were ever lost. The Europeans didn't know about the temples and palaces in the jungle, but Cambodians did. Another myth crumbles. Oh, well.
June 22, 2020
I was planning on saving this until I could travel to the region, but since it looks like all travel is on hold for a while, I thought I'd read it anyway and live vicariously through the book and its pictures.
I was surprised at how little I knew of the Khmer empire. I mean, I knew I knew nothing about it, but I figured it would have been more tied into East Asian history. But this wasn't the case. In fact, it was influenced much more by India. First with Hinduism and then Buddhism. It was also fascinating to read about the general weather, and how that affected the people, and the rulers.
Probably the most interesting section was under "documents" at the end, where a Chinese man, Zhou Daguan, who lived among the Khmer for over a year (from 1296-1297), wrote about the country, its people and its customs.
Having said that, the format of the book is quite annoying. It is chock full of pictures, which is nice, but they each have captions and I found myself interrupting the main narrative over and over to read these captions and to look at the photos. This made it difficult to just go through the text and get into it.
Regardless, it's been a good primer, albeit a bit cursory. If and when I actually make it to Cambodia I'll probably try to find another book to add onto this.
I was surprised at how little I knew of the Khmer empire. I mean, I knew I knew nothing about it, but I figured it would have been more tied into East Asian history. But this wasn't the case. In fact, it was influenced much more by India. First with Hinduism and then Buddhism. It was also fascinating to read about the general weather, and how that affected the people, and the rulers.
Probably the most interesting section was under "documents" at the end, where a Chinese man, Zhou Daguan, who lived among the Khmer for over a year (from 1296-1297), wrote about the country, its people and its customs.
Having said that, the format of the book is quite annoying. It is chock full of pictures, which is nice, but they each have captions and I found myself interrupting the main narrative over and over to read these captions and to look at the photos. This made it difficult to just go through the text and get into it.
Regardless, it's been a good primer, albeit a bit cursory. If and when I actually make it to Cambodia I'll probably try to find another book to add onto this.
October 23, 2020
super accessible book for those interested in the history and architecture of Khmer empires. It also includes some primary documents which is nice to see and photos. Fun easy read that reminded me of trip to Cambodia
February 18, 2017
The style of the text was rather drab, I'm afraid. Also, it all came off a bit cursory (perhaps this one could've--or should've--been lengthened to the usual size in this series).
March 4, 2011
Lots of great information, but the information was not conveyed with any form of emotion or sense of style. So many names and dates and places, without any sense of the connecting tissues of history. Reads much slower than its length and scant words per page. The photos are astounding, however.
I wasn't reading much for entertainment purposes, anyway. This is the beginnings of research on a novel, one part of which concerns Cambodia, and I wanted to get a general sense of the country and its origins before I start narrowing down into specifics on the subject matter. For those purposes, this book was sufficient; by no means will I stop here for information on the Khmer empire.
Three stars because of the photos, and because expectations were not terribly high anyway. I knew it was a third-rate Lonely Planet knock-off going into it.
I wasn't reading much for entertainment purposes, anyway. This is the beginnings of research on a novel, one part of which concerns Cambodia, and I wanted to get a general sense of the country and its origins before I start narrowing down into specifics on the subject matter. For those purposes, this book was sufficient; by no means will I stop here for information on the Khmer empire.
Three stars because of the photos, and because expectations were not terribly high anyway. I knew it was a third-rate Lonely Planet knock-off going into it.
September 18, 2013
The photos are lovely, but the text is so dry it makes me question my desire to visit Angkor Wat.
February 1, 2014
Compact history with plenty of good photos of the Khmer temples. Not a guide book but a good book to read before a trip to Angkor.
June 12, 2016
Text is dry and quite obviously translated, which makes reading proceed quite slowly. A lot of disjointed names and dates. Very nice photos, though.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews