Australian diplomat and writer Osborne provides a lucid narrative history of modern Cambodia as he traces the political career of Norodom Sihanouk from his ascension in 1941 as king up to the pres-ent when he once again occupies that throne after an exile of 20 years. This work is a critical, unauthorized biography that blends personal anecdotes with insightful analysis of the societal turmoil Cambodia has experienced over these decades. Presented on a sound academic basis, it nonetheless provides a compelling human tale in which Osborne judges Sihanouk to be a "Prince of Tragedy." A valuable work on a nation that has been in and out of the headlines, it is more accessible than Marie Alexandrein Martin's Cambodia: A Shattered Society (LJ 6/15/94) and belongs in both large public and all academic libraries.-James Rhodes, Luther Coll., Decorah, Ia.
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