This is a strikingly original study of Cambodian nationalism. It brings to life eight turbulent decades of cultural change and sheds new light on the colonial ancestry of Pol Pot's murderous dystopia. Penny Edwards re-creates the intellectual milieux and cultural traffic linking Europe and empire, interweaving analysis of key movements and ideas in the French Protectorate of Cambodge with contemporary developments in the M��tropole. From the naturalist Henri Mouhot's expedition to Angkor in 1860 to the nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh's short-lived premiership in 1945, this history of ideas tracks the talented Cambodian and French men and women who shaped the contours of the modern Khmer nation. This fresh take on the dynamics of colonialism and nationalism is a highly readable cross-cultural history of Cambodia's recent past that will appeal to both specialists and general readers. With notes, glossary, bibliography and index.