4. Cambodia 🇰🇭

Angkor and the Khmer Civilization by Michael D. Coe and Damian Evans (2003, 2018 new edition)

Read 19 May 2026 - 9 June 2026

It seemed rather too soon to take on another book that dealt with the subject of genocide after recently reading about Rwanda, so I was quite surprised in finding a title (mostly) about Cambodia focusing on the Khmer Empire (802-1431). As it turns out, it’s essentially impossible to write anything about Cambodia which doesn’t mention Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to a certain extent, as research within the country was disrupted by military conflict just as archaeological practices were evolving rapidly in the late twentieth century. More recent advancements in airborne laser scanning mean that understandings of the Khmer past are gradually catching up with those of neighbouring Thailand.

As a result, we have this general history which attempts to address what is known about the Khmer Empire and its large-scale capital city, Angkor, not just during the ‘Classic’ period (800-1300s) but during the ‘Iron Age’ (c.500 BC-500 AD), ‘Early Kingdoms’ (100-800) and ‘Post-Classic’ (1327-1863) eras.  The authors are clear on the major sources for study of Classic Angkor beyond contemporary archaeological research: the 13th century account of Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan, surviving bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat and other temples, Sanskrit and Old Khmer inscriptions, and nineteenth-century French accounts of pre-protectorate Cambodia. A key reason that list is alarmingly short is that documents are especially vulnerable in a tropical climate.

The work straddles a fine line between academic textbook and guidebook, and this tension is never quite resolved, as online reviews from frustrated tourists demonstrate. At times, the delivery borders on that of a Ladybird book, with bullet pointed lists and frequent illustrations (the colour images are great, the black-and-white not always clear). Given my lack of knowledge about the region, this wasn’t entirely unwelcome, and surely I can only benefit from now knowing the four different types of rice farming in Cambodia. Focus on the evolution of language and religion underlines the complexity of identity in mainland Southeast Asia, and there is a game stab at capturing what both imperial and everyday life might have looked like across the Classic period.

Structurally Angkor & The Khmer Civilization is quite peculiar. The chronological focus means that chapters 6 and 7 (of 8) comprise nearly half the book, which, alongside a degree of repetition, makes key sections sometimes feel more of a chore than they should. While we’d all ideally like a narrative of a gigantic imperial city, corrupt leaders and epic battles, there’s an element of the authors burying the lede. I’d have liked to go deeper into the debate over the extent to which Angkor was a ‘hydraulic city’ and the reasons its infrastructure seemingly fell apart slowly but not spectacularly, but the authors, perhaps sensibly, refuse to zhuzh things up. The book concludes by making a justified plea for further academic focus on the Khmer Empire, even if the reason for doing so: “[it] offers long-term perspectives on issues like globalization, climate variability and social change” needed to have been drawn out further.

The bigger picture: I can appreciate that I'm prooobably unlikely to ever go to Angkor Wat, and while this book is commendably accessible it never really delivers on the wonder element I get even from watching it on television. In terms of better understanding this region of Asia, I feel it introduces concepts and themes which will help frame my subsequent reading. Cambodia being sandwiched between the bigger powers of Thailand and Vietnam and how rulers negotiated that fact brought to mind aspects of Moldovan history - and there's a sentence I couldn't have imagined writing a few months ago. Coe's speciality is the Mayan civilisation rather than the Khmer, and apparently there are parallels to be drawn between the two as well.