A History of Thailand

This lively, accessible book is the first new history of Thailand in English for two decades. Drawing on new Thai-language research, it ranges widely over political, economic, social, and cultural themes. Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit reveal how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree labour evolved into a rural society of smallholder peasants and an urban society populated mainly by migrants from Southern China. They trace how a Buddhist cosmography adapted to new ideas of time and space, and a traditional polity was transformed into a new nation-state under a strengthened monarchy. The authors cover the contests between urban nationalists, ambitious generals, communist rebels, business politicians, and social movements to control the nation-state and redefine its purpose. They describe the dramatic changes wrought by a booming economy, globalization, and the evolution of mass society.

ISBN 0521016479   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780521016476 (What's this?)   Pages 320 Publisher Cambridge University Press   Volumes 1 Imprint Cambridge University Press   Weight (grammes) 466 Format Paperback   Published in Cambridge Publication date 20 Apr 2005   Height (mm) 228 Non-book description xviii, 301 :   Width (mm) 152 Library of Congress 2004028435   Spine width (mm) 18 DEWEY 959.3   Academic level Tertiary education, Professional / Scholarly, General

1		Before Bangkok		1
2		The old order in transition, 1760s to 1860s		26
3		Reforms, 1850s to 1910s		47
4		Peasants, merchants, and officials, 1870s to 1930s		81
5		Nationalisms, 1910s to 1940s		105
6		The American era and development, 1940s to 1960s		140
7		Ideologies, 1940s to 1970s		168
8		Globalization and mass society, 1970s onwards		199
9		Politics, 1970s onwards		230
		Postscript: the strong state and the well-being of the people		263

'As the most conceptual study of thailand yet it reaches a new level of sophistication.' BBC History Magazine 'Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit cover this ground with secure jusgement and great insight.' Times Literary Supplement 'In A History of Thailand, Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, two respected Bangkok-based scholars, offer a lively, highly readable account of modern Thai history, the first such history in English for two decades.' Financial Times '[This book] is the first attempt in English to write a history of this country in the modern sense of 'history' ... This book is essential reading for anyone seriously interest in Thailand: how it came about; its present strengths and weaknesses; and its potential in the future of a very unstable world.' Journal of the Siam Society '... an engaging and factually rich introduction to the history of modern Thailand.' South East Asia Research 'This is the first new history of Thailand for two decades, written by a husband and wife team who have already written a number of books on contemporary Thailand. Their challenge was to marshal coherently a deal of complicated and unfamiliar material.' Asian Affairs

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