Murder and Mayhem in 17th Century Cambodia

Book excerpt: Murder and Mayhem in Seventeenth-Century Cambodia: Anthony van Diemen vs King Ramadhipati I tells the fascinating story of the origins, course, and consequences of the conflict in the 1630s and '40s between Cambodia and the Dutch East India Company (VOC), a confrontation that has the dubious distinction of being history's first between a mainland Southeast Asian state and a European power. Apart from its appeal as an extraordinary tale in its own right, this historical narrative affords a rare glimpse into a largely unknown period in Cambodian history, namely, the period between the fall of Angkor in the mid-fifteenth century and the arrival of the French in the late nineteenth century.