Angkor and Cambodia in the Sixteenth Century

Groslier's seminal study of the accounts of early Spanish and Portuguesemissionaries and adventurers in Cambodia was published in French in1958, and is translated here into English for the first time.The reports of the Europeans record the earliest surviving first-handaccounts of Angkor, following the 'rediscovery' of the site by the Khmers,over a hundred years after its abandonment in 1432 CE, and four hundredyears prior to the colonization of Cambodia by the French.While the accounts are fascinating in their own right, Groslier employssome of their key observations on the structure of Angkor in the 16th centuryto embark on further exploration of his own into the nature of Khmercivilization. Complementing his studies of the early accounts with the firstaerial surveys of the site, Groslier reconstructs a broad picture of Angkoriancivilization, its economy, the genius of its engineers and planners, its uniquereligious foundations and the pivotal humanitarian role of its god-kings.Angkor and Cambodia in the Sixteenth Century represents one of themajor breakthroughs in our understanding of this rich and complexmedieval Asian culture, and is a pillar on which all subsequent studies havebeen built. Essential for all readers, both scholarly and lay, who seek tofurther understand the society responsible for the construction of the greatmonuments of ancient Angkor.