On the bookshelves

I paid another visit to Monument Books this afternoon which is often a risky thing to do, as I always end up spending far too much money on books. This time it was John D Ciorciari's The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, the Night of the Khmer Rouge exhibition book, Khamboly Dy's History of Democratic Kampuchea and Milton Osborne's Before Kampuchea. I was looking for the Reyum book on Wat Painting but didn't see it, so I couldn't leave empty-handed could I? In the spirit of keeping you updated on recent or forthcoming book releases involving Cambodia, I spotted one hardcover book, The Armies of Angkor - Military Structure & Weaponry of the Khmers on the shelves. Released only last month, its 200 pages will be of great interest to war and weapons fans. It's published by Orchid Press and written by Michel Jacq-Herqoualc'h. Another new book, from January, is Stefano Vecchia's The Khmer: History & Treasures of an Ancient Civilization. The editor of the magazine Popoli, Vecchia traces the history and artistic efforts of the Khmers from the 8th to the 15th century, in 208 pages and published by White Star in English and Italian.
Three books I missed at the back-end of last year include Where the Stone Flowers - The People of Angkor by Thanakvaro De Lopez. A Khmer scholar studies the social, economic and environmental aspects of present-day Angkorians. 218 pages, by Blue Reamker Productions and published last September. Tim Winter's Post Conflict Heritage, Post Colonial Tourism: Tourism, Politics and Development at Angkor is from the Routledge stable and has been around since December. The award for the book with the longest title, ever, goes to the Story of a Khmer Rouge Holocaust Survivor & the Creation of the Kosol Ouch/David Lowrance Rain Maker Device. I kid you not! 204 pages from e-booktime publishers, in paperback and in e-book form, its the survival story of Rattana Keo Phuong, co-authored with Kosol Ouch, David Lowrance and David Dawson.