Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Kings of Angkor

The Kings of Angkor

Smith, Robert

Paperback

Series: The Southeast Asian Trilogy, Book 1

Historical Fiction

ISBN10: 1795119098
ISBN13: 9781795119092
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jan 26 2019
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.73
Height: 0.65 Width: 5.24 Depth: 7.99
Language: English
This Kings of Angkor brings to life the story of the Khmer, the builders of Angkor Wat, the Bayon, and numerous other world renown temples. As with Robert Smith's other novels in the Southeast Asia trilogy (The Kings of Ayutthaya, and The Kings of the Toungoo Empire,) the story of the Ankorian civilization is told by re-imagining and dramatizing the exploits of its rulers by building on the historical record left on temple carvings, in written accounts, and from archeological research.It was a time of kings. The novel commences as the future King Jayavarman II forged his kingdom from the weakening influence of the Sailendra Kingdom of Java who occupied the lands of Kambujadesa (Cambodia). His declaration of himself as Devaraja, The Lord of the Universe who is King, laid the foundation for the birth and future growth of the Khmer Empire. He sets the seeds for an empire not matched in size in southeast Asia until the Burman Toungoo Empire under King Bayinnaung many centuries later.The novel progresses through the time of the successive varman kings. Times of religion and religious conflict, of greed, betrayal, death, and internecine strife that run alongside those of loyalty, ingenuity, and determination. The building of temples and barays (reservoirs) are the legacies left that visitors flock to Angkor to see but these do not tell the full story. The novel places these structures, and the events surrounding them, in a context that is made understandable, and enjoyable, for the reader.All empires fall. The novel traces the rise and fall of an empire from its beginnings in 802 A.D. to its fall to the kingdom of Ayutthaya in 1431 A.D. The focus is on the varman kings, the builders of Angkor and the kings who took it to its greatest achievements. The decline of the empire was gradual but ended in a bloodbath, similar in many ways, to that leveled by the Burman king, King Hsinbyushin on Ayutthaya in 1767 A.D.The story dramatizes the famous figures in Angkorian history through dialogue, description, and narration while following the historical record as closely as possible, but adding the creative touch of the author. If you have visited or intend to visit Cambodia and Angkor Wat this book makes an ideal companion andplaces what you see in context..Support material for the novel can be found at www.thekingsofayutthaya.com/thekingsofangkor. Robert Smith is a writer living in Phitsanulok, Thailand. He specializes in historical fiction.

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