Customer Reviews

A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People

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If you're heading to Cambodia as a tourist on your first visit...or if you're a scholar immersed in Southeast Asian studies...this book is for you. It's unusual to find a work of this depth that holds such broad appeal.

Zhou Daguan's 700 year old report of his diplomatic journey to the fabulously wealthy ancient Khmer capital of Angkor is rare. In fact, it is one of the only written records about this mysterious kingdom that has survived to the present day.

Two things make this edition unique:

Author Peter Harris provides the first direct Chinese to English translation of this historic record of Asian travel with many new insights and interpretations.

Second, Harris accomplishes this in a readable style, also including fascinating comparisons to Marco Polo's China journey, which was contemporary with Zhou's account.

The result is a book that will enhance any recreational visit to Cambodia, but at the same time offers concrete facts and references for academic readers.

This edition includes 28 full color photos and two maps giving readers modern references to temples and concepts in Zhou's original account. Academics will be pleased to find 44 pages of detailed endnotes, more than 100 bibliographic references, two appendices and a detailed index. All the reference tools include Chinese characters for Sino-linguists.

"A Record of Cambodia" delivers cultural relevance, readability and rigorous scholarship in a compact and inexpensive volume.

For visitors to Angkor Wat, this book is a "must". However, it's more than just a late afternoon read after touring Angkor Thom and environs. It's an excellent translation of a valuable work with very helpful footnotes for academics and independent scholars. The excellent footnotes and explanations and inclusion of Chinese characters makes it a valuable reference work for those of us studying Cambodian, Vietnamese (Champa) and Chinese history. Don't let its slim size and popularity with armchair and real visitors distract you from its value.

This is the only substantial record of the Angkorian civilization that we have. It was written in the 13th century by a Chinese traveller, Zhou Daguan and has been translated directly into English for the first time. This book is an invaluable accessory for any trip to Angkor Wat, the descriptions provided give a life to the dead temples and ruins that they themselves can no longer project.

Unfortunately even this record is fragmentary and much of this book is filled with extremely helpful translator's notes and footnotes. Also included are maps and photographs of some of the landmarks described in some of the books. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in Angkor Wat and would consider it essential for anyone actually going there.

This short work provides a fascinating glimpse into an empire nearing its end and nearly unimaginable in present day Cambodia. The Introduction, nearly as long as the work itself, provides necessary background and is itself very readable. The work is somewhat dated and fragmented, but still a worthwhile read.

This is it, short, recently translated, this is the translation of the one remaining documententation of the ancient Khmer civilization from a first hand report. Everything else you read is partially based on this. Quaint, brief and you can see where the scholors will argue the interpretation but if you are a student of history of the Khmer civilization you probably should read this to get the first hand info and then wonder how the others added their interpretation and colored their belief from the bas reliefs of Ankor. As a casual reader its not a novel and not a flowing story. You have to think of a traveller seeing things for the first time and wonder what he didnt understand of the language or missinterpreted himself in reporting their culture. I cannot believe that for all the libraries and culture of that civilization that the Thais have destroyed all other records..