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Angkor and the Khmer Civilization. Michael D. Coe. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003. 240 pp., 130 illustrations (22 color), 14 maps. ISBN 0-500-02117-1.
This excellent book, written from an anthropological and archaeological perspective, brings a new balance to the increasing number of publications on Angkor. Although it is aimed at the general public, the substantial content, the time span covered, and results of the latest research make this book a useful source for specialists as well. Ample illustrations with descriptive captions support the concisely written text, which is set out in eight balanced chapters that develop chronologically. Numerous publications have focused on the Khmer civilization at its apogee in the Angkor period but say little about before and after that time. This book, however, covers the period from the beginning of recorded history to the French colonial domination in the twentieth century.
The author, Michael Coe, professor emeritus of anthropology at Yale University and member of the National Academy of Sciences, is a respected scholar and author of numerous publications, and is renowned for his work on the people and art of the pre-Colombian New World. His books on the Maya civilization in Mesoamerica are highly acclaimed. He approaches his study of the Khmer civilization with the same quality and depth of scholarship that characterize his previous works.
Interpretations of the pioneering French are the foundation upon which modern archaeology proceeds. The surveying of Angkor began soon after the signing of a French protectorate over Cambodia in 1863. The clearing and preservation of Angkor was carried out for nearly threequarters of the twentieth century under the auspices of the École Française d'Extrême Orient (EFEO), a scholarly body set up by the French colonial government in 1898 to study the history, language, and archaeology of Indo-China. During that time, a chronology based on an art historical study of decorative elements on the temples was established and hundreds of inscriptions carved in stone were translated. By the middle of the twentieth century, the French were employing modern archaeological methods at Angkor. Then, Cambodia closed in the early 1970s for nearly two decades because of civil unrest. Between 1979 and 1989 limited work on the temples took place. It was only with a peace settlement in 1991...