Seditious Histories

As an Indologist and a folklorist, I am confident that this book is a masterpiece of Thai social history that will lead to the writing of 'seditious histories' of other Southeast Asian countries.

The essays in this collection are lucid and provocative. To borrow the title of a classic Siamese literacy manual analyzed by Reynolds, Seditious Histories is a 'gem of thought.' .

Deeply introspective, yet conceptually broad, Seditious Histories is essential reading for scholars and students of Southeast Asia and Thai Studies.

This is a superb collection which anyone with an interest in Thai culture and history will enjoy.

Reynolds succeeds in bridging the gap between the modern western mind and the Thai world of thought in which extreme reverence for moral hierarchy and king, and Buddhist-animistic syncretism come 'naturally.' With this feat, he generously fulfills his promise of sharing with his readers the 'historical sensation' of transcending differences in mentalities and languages. It is precisely this that makes the collection a most valuable asset for students of Southeast Asia in general and those of interpretive historiography in particular.

This absorbing collection of essays reflects the range and depth of Craig Reynolds’s long engagement with Thailand and Southeast Asia. Reynolds is a masterful historian, a lucid, provocative thinker, and a stylish writer. Seditious Histories has been over thirty years in the making. It’s a reader’s feast.

The essays that Reynolds has brought together in this volume constitute one of the most outstanding works in the study of Thai history and in the historiography of the region more generally.

A must for Thai specialists and for historians of the region. Reynolds combines a density of historical research and breadth of knowledge in each essay to make a cumulatively rich contribution to our understanding of Thailand and Southeast Asia.