Facing the Cambodian Past
A leading student of Cambodia's history considers a range of themes and problems including 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). This collection closes with two essays, written 16 years apart, that deal with what the author calls "the tragedy of Cambodian history."
David Chandler is professor emeritus of history at Monash University. He is the author of A History of Cambodia (Westview, 1983), Brother Number One: A Political Biography of Pol Pot (Westview, 1992; 2nd ed., 1999), andVoices from S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pot's Secret Prison (University of California Press, 1999).