I'd like to do some reading before I leave for our trip to Angkor Wat and I'm not sure which guide to buy.

Several books I've considered are;

The 5th edition of Dawn Rooney and Peter Danford's Angkor; Cambodia's Wonderous Khmer Temples which should be out soon.


Another possibility is Jean Laur's Angkor An Illustrated Guide to the Monuments written by a former director of the site.

Please let me know what you read before or took with you to Angkor. I'd love to know why you recommend any particular book or why one didn't work for you.

Are there any more general histories of the region anyone would recommend?

Many thanks!

I borrowed an older edition of Dawn Rooney's book from our local lending library. It had far more detail than I would ever want or need but you might find it useful. According to amazon.com, the 5th edition is not due out until February 29, 2008. I found some very helpful information at this internet site: www.theangkorguide.com
This site contains a translation of Maurice Glaize's guide written in 1944 as well as some excellent maps, sample itineraries and overviews of the temples.

I like Dawn Rooney's book and recommend it regularly. It has enough info to self-guide and recommends itineraries depending on how long you have. It's a good size (another good book by Freeman is too large to carry along in all of the temples, in my opinion), and has lots of detail as well as general overview information.

I have quite a collection of books about Angkor. I'd recommend going to www.amazon.com and doing a search there.

You can also get the books quite cheap from people selling them outside the temples. The downside being that you have to wait until you're there to read them!

The other downside to buying them outside the temples is that they are copies.

personally i prefer to do some limited reading before my visit but prefer, especially in the angkor sites, to have a guide pass on info to me...i find it difficult to look, take pics and read at the same time...

Thanks everyone I appreciate the thoughts and advice.

I'm more in line with Bob. At the site we'll defineately have a guide so I'm looking for some prelimianry reading to better inform my visit.

Perhaps I need something with fewer details that is less a guide than an historical and cultural overview.

Thanks again.

Welltraveledbrit

I wanted to get Dawn Rooneys latest for our visit (that was scheduled for Feb 06 but had to be rescheduled to Oct 06) Could not get that book of course. I do like to read a lot before I go so I got "Ancient Angkor" by Michael Freeman. I am enjoying flipping through it and there is some interesting history. Got it on Amazon. Be aware there is a French version there also.
Happy, safe travels
J