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Phnom Penh - A Cultural and Literary History (Paperback)
Loot Price: R449
Discovery Miles 4 490
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Phnom Penh - A Cultural and Literary History (Paperback)
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Loot Price R449
Discovery Miles 4 490
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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Forever linked in the public mind with the Pol Pot tyranny, Phnom
Penh only became Cambodia's permanent capital in 1866. Long
neglected by Western travellers, in the sixteenth century it was
home to Iberian missionaries and freebooters who briefly held
Cambodia's fate in their hands. It faded in significance until
France established a colonial protectorate over Cambodia in 1863.
As the colonialists robbed the Cambodian king of his temporal
power, their protection enhanced his symbolic importance, setting
the scene for the emergence of one of the most intriguing rulers of
the twentieth century, King Norodom Sihanouk. The city Sihanouk
ruled from 1941 to 1970 was a mix of traditional palaces, Buddhist
temples and transplanted French architecture. In the 1960s Phnom
Penh deserved its reputation as the most attractive city in
Southeast Asia.But after 1970 all this was to change, and a
terrible civil war was followed by the Khmer Rouge's capture of the
city in 1975. Since the defeat of Pol Pot in 1979, Phnom Penh has
slowly recovered, once again attracting perceptive travellers. It
is a city of royalty and colonizers - Kings, courts and battles
with French administrators; royal ceremonies, dancers and
elephants; foreign intrigue and carpetbaggers who sought and failed
to find riches. It is a city of culture - A rich local culture that
became a headache for French officials; traditional architecture
and colonial buildings that remain today; notable literary visitors
from Somerset Maugham to Andre Malraux. It is a city of evil and
rebirth - The terrible rule of Pol Pot; the Tuol Sleng
extermination centre where 17,000 men, women and children were
tortured and killed as "enemies of the state"; the return to a
fragile normality.
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