About this item
A Brief History of Thailand offers an engaging look at the country's last 250 years - from coups and violent massacres to the invention of Pad Thai in the 1930's. Readers will learn the vibrant story of Thailand's emergence as a prosperous Buddhist state, its transformation from traditional kingdom to democratic constitutional monarchy and its subsequent rise to prominence in Southeast Asian affairs.The true story of Anna Leonowens, the British governess hired to teach the children of King Mongkut, fictionalized in Margaret Landon's bestselling novel Anna and the King of Siam and turned into a hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and film, The King and IThe bloodless Siamese Revolution of 1932 that established overnight the first constitutional monarchy in Asia, ending almost eight centuries of absolute rule and creating a democratic system of parliamentary government The Japanese invasion of Thailand and construction of the "Bridge Over the River Kwai" made famous by the novel and Oscar-winning filmThe mysterious death of King Ananda Mahidol, murdered in his bed in 1946, and a source of controversy ever sinceThe development of Thailand as an international playground during the Vietnam War, when American military used it as rowdy destination for servicemen on furloughThe 70-year reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-serving monarch, who was born in the U.
About the Author
Richard A. Ruth is an associate professor of Southeast Asian history in the United States. He received a Ph.D. in history and an M.A. in Asian Studies from Cornell University. A former journalist and NGO field agent, he spent more than a decade working, researching, and writing in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China. He is the author of A Brief History of Thailand -- Monarchy, War, and Modernity: The Fascinating Story of the Gilded Kingdom at the Heart of Southeast Asia (Tuttle, 2021) and In Buddha's Company: Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War (U. of Hawai'i Press, 2012) .
