р╣Ар╕нр╕Бр╕Бр╕йр╕▒р╕Хр╕гр╕┤р╕вр╣Мр╣Гр╕Хр╣Йр╕гр╕▒р╕Рр╕Шр╕гр╕гр╕бр╕Щр╕╣р╕Н р╣Вр╕Фр╕в р╕зр╕┤р╕бр╕ер╕Юр╕гр╕гр╕У р╕Ыр╕╡р╕Хр╕Шр╕зр╕▒р╕Кр╕Кр╕▒р╕в (Ekkasat tai ratthathammanun = The Great Constitutional Monarch by Wimonphan Pitathawatchai ) (ISBN: 9789742253226).

The Great Constitutional Monarch comes in 3 volumes published in August 2010; with hard back covers and high quality print and photos. Essentially it details the life of King Bhumibol Adulyadej from the ‘Siamese revolution of 1932’ to the 2006 coup. The Table of Contents here should be sufficient for interested readers to see the scope of this voluminous publication.

This is a serious attempt at a comprehensive account of the king’s life. Altogether there are 1136 pages with 379 images (many black & white or ‘sepia’ characteristic of their time), a substantial number of sources and references (around 15 pages of both Thai and foreign) and 40 sample pages with facsimiles of American and British archival documents.

One could characterise The Great Constitutional Monarch as a mirror opposite of Paul Handley’s controversial The King Never Smiles, both in form and content. We recognise the same king is being discussed, but it is as if seen through a parallel but opposite dimension.

Perhaps New Mandala readers may be interested to know that there is a review (available here) by р╕Ур╕▒р╕Рр╕Юр╕е р╣Гр╕Ир╕Ир╕гр╕┤р╕З (Natthaphon Chaiching) in the latest р╕Яр╣Йр╕▓р╣Ар╕Фр╕╡р╕вр╕зр╕Бр╕▒р╕Щ. Some readers may find Natthaphon’s review interesting. In addition, here is the author’s introduction.

Finally, the price is above average for Thai books, but for such quality of production the 1500 Baht is not excessive.