The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

WoWasis book review: ‘Monuments of Civilization: Ancient Cambodia’

Written By: herbrunbridge - Apr• 25•12

The large-format (13”x10”) Monuments of Civilization: Ancient Cambodia (1978, ISBN 0-448-02026-2) by Donatella Mazzeo and Chiara Silvi Antonini was actually first published in 1972, and remains a magnificent book, detailing the pre-Angkorean, Classic Angkorean, and Late Angkorean periods. The photographs are lavish, the text informative, and the diagrams readable, in this 192 page, 100 photograph book. It should be a staple of any Cambodian bookshelf.

It’s thorough, too, especially in terms of public projects led by kings such as Jayavarman VII, (1181 – ca. 1218)) who built massive reservoirs, 102 hospitals, and numerous “houses with a fire’ (numbering 121 in his reign), where travelers could spend the night. We here at WoWasis were particularly impressed with the bas-relief devatas, or female divinities, adorning the outer wall of the northeast pavilion, and the book explains their headdress, sampot (skirt), and their three historical classification.

Devatas at Angkor Wat (WoWasis photo)

Where the book really shines is in the strikingly composed color photographs. They are marvelous, in landscape, architecture, and art. Better than those you will find in books sold at the site itself. Amazing enough that the reader wants to know who took them. And therein lies the enigma of the book. Not one single photographer is given credit. Why? Publisher squabbles? Fight with an editor? Failed personal relationship with one of the authors? What we’ll say is this: this is the only photography-heavy book we’ve ever encountered with a photographer’s credit (perhaps there was more than one?) At any rate, the authors owe us an explanation.

Photography credits aside, this is a book worth having. And it’s available on the internet for all low as $3 USD.

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