History of Cambodia
In this sequel to his History of Cambodia, Chandler traces Cambodia's tangled history from World War II until 1979 and incorporates newly opened archival sources for the 1945-1954 period. As in the earlier book, Chandler is insightful, empathic, and compassionate about his subject, showing mastery of his facts as well as deep understanding. His latest book has three major strengths: his documentation of Cambodia's history, his treatment of King Sihanouk, and his identification of three themes.
Intended as a sequel to the author's A History of Cambodia (Westview Pr., 1983), the current work does an excellent job of continuing the story from 1945 through 1979. External events and forces are important, but the account is centered on events within Cambodia. Furthermore, non-Communist activities receive much better attention than in Ben Kiernan's How Pol Pot Came to Power (Verso, 1985) or Craig Etcherson's Rise and Demise of Democratic Kampuchea ( LJ 7/84). Chandler's command of sources is superb, from the written documentation to the extensive use of interviews. And although coverage of the Pol Pot period is less detailed than in numerous other works, Chandler contributes a valuable attempt to understand the conditions and mentalities which led to its horrors
Cambodian religion
Cambodian religion has long been hampered by a lack of easily accessible scholarship. This impressive new work by Ian Harris thus fills a major gap and offers English-language scholars a book-length, up-to-date treatment of the religious aspects of Cambodian culture. Beginning with a coherent history of the presence of religion in the country from its inception to the present day, the book goes on to furnish insights into the distinctive nature of Cambodia's important yet overlooked manifestation of Theravada Buddhist tradition and to show how it reestablished itself following almost total annihilation during the Pol Pot period.
Historical sections cover the dominant role of tantric Mahayana concepts and rituals under the last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII (1181-c. 1220); the rise of Theravada traditions after the collapse of the Angkorian civilization; the impact of foreign influences on the development of the nineteenth-century monastic order; and politicized Buddhism and the Buddhist contribution to an emerging sense of Khmer nationhood. The Buddhism practiced in Cambodia has much in common with parallel traditions in Thailand and Sri Lanka, yet there are also significant differences. The book concentrates on these and illustrates how a distinctly Cambodian Theravada developed by accommodating itself to premodern Khmer modes of thought. Following the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in 1970, Cambodia slid rapidly into disorder and violence. Later chapters chart the elimination of institutional Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge and its gradual reemergence after Pol Pot, the restoration of the monastic order's prerevolutionary institutional forms, and the emergence of contemporary Buddhist groupings.
Cambodian Buddhism
History and Practice synthesizes an enormous range of scholarship (most of it in French), complemented by the author's own fieldwork in modern Cambodia. The result is a wide-ranging, well-documented, and comprehensive account of a neglected Southeast Asian tradition.
In this sequel to his History of Cambodia, Chandler traces Cambodia's tangled history from World War II until 1979 and incorporates newly opened archival sources for the 1945-1954 period. As in the earlier book, Chandler is insightful, empathic, and compassionate about his subject, showing mastery of his facts as well as deep understanding. His latest book has three major strengths: his documentation of Cambodia's history, his treatment of King Sihanouk, and his identification of three themes.
Intended as a sequel to the author's A History of Cambodia (Westview Pr., 1983), the current work does an excellent job of continuing the story from 1945 through 1979. External events and forces are important, but the account is centered on events within Cambodia. Furthermore, non-Communist activities receive much better attention than in Ben Kiernan's How Pol Pot Came to Power (Verso, 1985) or Craig Etcherson's Rise and Demise of Democratic Kampuchea ( LJ 7/84). Chandler's command of sources is superb, from the written documentation to the extensive use of interviews. And although coverage of the Pol Pot period is less detailed than in numerous other works, Chandler contributes a valuable attempt to understand the conditions and mentalities which led to its horrors
Cambodian religion
Cambodian religion has long been hampered by a lack of easily accessible scholarship. This impressive new work by Ian Harris thus fills a major gap and offers English-language scholars a book-length, up-to-date treatment of the religious aspects of Cambodian culture. Beginning with a coherent history of the presence of religion in the country from its inception to the present day, the book goes on to furnish insights into the distinctive nature of Cambodia's important yet overlooked manifestation of Theravada Buddhist tradition and to show how it reestablished itself following almost total annihilation during the Pol Pot period.
Historical sections cover the dominant role of tantric Mahayana concepts and rituals under the last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII (1181-c. 1220); the rise of Theravada traditions after the collapse of the Angkorian civilization; the impact of foreign influences on the development of the nineteenth-century monastic order; and politicized Buddhism and the Buddhist contribution to an emerging sense of Khmer nationhood. The Buddhism practiced in Cambodia has much in common with parallel traditions in Thailand and Sri Lanka, yet there are also significant differences. The book concentrates on these and illustrates how a distinctly Cambodian Theravada developed by accommodating itself to premodern Khmer modes of thought. Following the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in 1970, Cambodia slid rapidly into disorder and violence. Later chapters chart the elimination of institutional Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge and its gradual reemergence after Pol Pot, the restoration of the monastic order's prerevolutionary institutional forms, and the emergence of contemporary Buddhist groupings.
Cambodian Buddhism
History and Practice synthesizes an enormous range of scholarship (most of it in French), complemented by the author's own fieldwork in modern Cambodia. The result is a wide-ranging, well-documented, and comprehensive account of a neglected Southeast Asian tradition.
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