The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej by Paul M. Handley

The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej



Download The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej




The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej Paul M. Handley
Language: English
Page: 512
Format: pdf
ISBN: 0300106823, 9780300106824
Publisher: Yale University Press

From Publishers Weekly

Early on, Handley declares that current king of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej's restoration of the Thai monarchy is, in fact, "one of the great untold stories of the 20th century." The dense history he assembles more than meets the high expectations he sets for himself. Bhumibol, ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty and the first American-born Thai monarch, took power in 1946 during a time when being king was not the most desirable job in the country. Handley offers a substantive history of the monarchy reaching back 500 years, providing the framework for understanding Bhumibol's challenge as king and "leading theologian" following the 1932 coup that turned the old kingdom of Siam, an absolute monarchy, into the constitutional monarchy of Thailand. While rendered politically weak by the coup and subsequent power struggles, Bhumibol has quietly salvaged the relevance of the monarchy while maintaining the image of bodhittsava-like figurehead, a tricky and necessary accomplishment for a country balanced between modernity and ancient Buddhist and Hindu tradition. Dynamic in both his professional and personal life, Bhumibol grapples with insurgencies, growing leftist sentiment and an alliance with the U.S. to combat Communism, finding time along the way to dabble in everything from water development projects to jazz composition. This absorbing and well-researched volume should please Asian history buffs and those interested in the topical challenge of leading a traditional society into the modern world.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Paul M. Handley is a freelance journalist who lived and worked as a foreign correspondent in Asia for more than twenty years, including thirteen in Thailand.

MORE EBOOKS:
The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable cheap book
The Drowned and the Saved cheap ebook







Tags: The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej ebook pdf epub djvu mobi rar
The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej pdf epub djvu free download
Download The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej free ebook pdf epub
The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej read online free book
The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej cheap ebook for kindle and nook
Paul M. Handley ebooks and audio books
The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej download pdf epub rar rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent depositfiles scribd