Angkor: Cambodia's Wondrous Khmer Temples, Fifth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Dawn Rooney, Peter Danford
Publisher: Odyssey
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $16.47
You Save: $8.48 (34%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 208131
Media: Turtleback
Edition: 5th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 488
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 9622177271
Dewey Decimal Number: 915
EAN: 9789622177277
ASIN: 9622177271
Publication Date: July 29, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The great legacy of the ancient Khmer civilization, the temples of Angkor were built between the ninth and 15th centuries and cover an area stretching across 77 square miles in northwest Cambodia. This beautifully illustrated book contains a comprehensive monument-by-monument guide to the sites, detailed maps and plans, plus information about ten newly accessible temple complexes.
• Ten new temple sites; an additional 180 pages with 86 new color images
• Foreword by His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia
• Extensive accounts of temples and pre-Angkor sites
• Profiles the Phnom Penh National Museum
• The hip town Siem Reap—the base for exploring Angkor
• Unique flora and fauna around the great lake, Tonle Sap
• 158 color photos, 44 maps & plans.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
THE Must-have Guide to Angkor August 10, 2008
This is, without doubt, THE must-have guide to the Angkor area. Dawn Rooney writes with clarity, thoroughness and a balanced view of the monuments without talking down to (or over the head of) the reader. Some books on this area read like travel brochures, others like snobby scholarly textbooks. Ms. Rooney's book strikes the perfect balance between the two.
I'm a research-aholic about my travel, and collect guide books by the dozens. This is one of the best I've read anywhere, about any area.
This revised edition features tons of full-color photographs, good maps and many, many touring tips. I especially liked the fact that she talks about when to visit certain areas, where the best photography opportunities are, along with what makes each temple/monument unique.
The first portion of this book gives a "just-the-right-depth" overview of the history of the area, plus overviews of the artistic styles, royal lineages, construction methods, restoration efforts, etc. Then the second portion goes into detail about each monument - grouped into logical touring sequences.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you've been searching for a guide book to the Angkor area - end your search now. This is the one.
distant temples, history, Preak Toal Bird Sanctuary info July 21, 2008
After 6 days in Siem Reap with a licensed guide, this book is 'Cliff Notes' to what the guide tells you. I don't recommend touring the temples without a licensed guide, unless you want a quick, superficial tour. The only book that contains info on the temple Koh Ker (3 hours from Siem Reap, built in 900 AD) & the Preak Toal Bird Sanctuary (2.5 hours by boat across Tonle Sap Lake). If you want to truly enjoy & understand the carvings, the history (Buddhist & Hindu) & culture of what you seeing, read this book before you depart (it's too heavy to take), hire a licensed guide (not a driver who cannot legally take you inside the temples) who is trained to explain how the temples were built (different materials & methods) & what the carvings depict (Hindu mythology, Buddhist kings). Then when you return, reread the sections on the temples you visited... and it will bring back a flood of images & memories. Floor plans are confusing, pictures scant, but her historical descriptions & distances are accurate, lesser known, less touristy temples are included for the adventurous or art lover.
Absulutely Fantastic June 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent, up-to-date info. on all sites; very detailed and accurate text on history and culture. Very informative for architects, historians, and other people interested in more profund knowledge/ facts. Far better than the other guides I've read!
Angkok by Dawn Rooney April 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the best guides that I have read. Very good background, history, religion,and description of the sites. In short, a great book.
Should be required for visitors to Angkor February 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is an absolute necessity for visiting Angkor, at least if one has an interest in archaeology. In fact, knowing what I know now, I would have skipped hiring a guide and just rented a bicycle with this book as my guide. It is comprehensive, well-illustrated (although the illustrations are not always tied to the adjacent text--my most serious complaint about the book), and has the right balance between academic and popular interest. It is well-worth the extra weight involved in taking it along to Asia (I wish they had used cheaper paper and binding to make it lighter, but then the pictures wouldn't have been so inviting). Maps and organization make it easy to use, although the index sometimes is off by a page or two--perhaps they didn't update it all from the 4th ed. At any rate, it is far superior to all other guides I found on the subject.
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