Awarded two stars on Goodreads.The good news is that this is a short book. The bad news is it makes for dry reading.
I picked this one up to read in connection with a tourist visit to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. (One of the most spectacular monuments I’ve ever seen!)
While it does contain some interesting and useful information, I found it hard to follow as a Westerner. Lots of foreign names, places and cultures to keep track of. I think it would easier if I had a broader knowledge base of the history of SE Asia, which I unfortunately don’t.
The book does cover the building of the great Angkor monuments and filled in some gaps I had after my guided tour. But aside from some information related to the layout of the temple and some interesting facts surrounding the mistaken assumptions made by colonialists about the Angkor culture — it was a very dry historical text.
More about the author, Jame DiBiasio.
Toby A. Smith 