Sinceitwasfirstpublishedin2005,AHistoryofThailandhasbeenhailedasanauthoritative,livelyandreadableaccountofThailand’spolitical,economic,socialandculturalhistory.FromtheearlysettlementsintheChaoPhrayabasintotoday,BakerandPhongpaichittracehowaworldofmandarinnoblesandunfreepeasantswastransformedbycolonialism,theexpansionofthericefrontierandtheimmigrationoftradersandlabourersfromsouthernChina.Thisbookexamineshowthemonarchymanagedthefoundationofanewnation‐stateattheendofthenineteenthcentury,andhowurbannationalists,ambitiousgenerals,communistrebelsandbusinesspoliticianscompetedtotakecontrolthroughthetwentiethcentury.IttracksThailand’seconomicchanges,globalisationandtheevolutionofmasssociety,anddrawsonpopularculturetodramatizesocialtrends.ThiseditioncontainsanewchapteronThailand’sturbulentpoliticssince2006andincorporatesnewsourcesandresearchthroughout.
