Bayon: New Perspectives Hardcover – August 23, 2007

This collection of articles circles around the Bayon, one of classic Angkor's most important monuments. As the central symbol built by Jayavarman VII, the king who transformed Angkor from a Hindu to a Buddhist kingdom, it has quite a story to tell...but one that has been misunderstood or wrongly interpreted by scholars for over a hundred years. This important book represents the latest, cutting edge research and thinking about the Bayon and the people who built it. This is necessarily an academic project, not for the casual armchair historian or the tourist. But for anyone keen to stay on top of the dramatic turns in how we conceive of Angkor, this book is essential. It also represents a range of views, making it a collaborative measure rather than just one person's musings. It's like liquid history, flowing and changing right in front of you. It really brings together the best minds on a fascinating subject.

Bayon New Perspectives is an actuel professional work about this particular Khmer temple and is certainly of great use for professionals, sholars but also comprehensible for non-experts. A basic interest in and knowledge of this templecomplex is helpfull for the understanding of the different studies and aspects treated in this work.To estimate the real value of this book and enjoy it completely the reader should preferably have had the occasion to visit Khmer monuments in Cambodia, in Thailand or/and in Laos or at least have read some standard works about the Khmer architecture.Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Angkor: Cambodia's Wondrous Khmer Temples, F[[ASIN:9748225836 Sacred Angkor: The Carved Reliefs of Angkor WatThe Khmers (The Peoples of South-East Asia and the Pacific)Angkor: An Illustrated Guide to the MonumentsAngkor: Temples et monumentsKhmer Mythol... Sacred Angkor: The Carved Reliefs of Angkor WatThe Archaeology of Mainland Southeast Asia: From 10,000 B.C. to the Fall of Angkor (Cambridge World Archaeology)AngkorCambodian Architecture: Eighth to Thirteenth Centuries (Handbook of Oriental Studies/Handbuch Der Orientalistik)

First I'd like to correct information errors noted above, book description say 204 pages, it's really 403 page. This is a very through review of the Bayon temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia, having been there myself, this book is very detailed in it's coverage of the Bayon in almost all of it's aspects, making me want to return to Cambodia to see all that I've missed...