A Brief History of Thailand

Monarchy, War and Resilience: The Fascinating Story of the Gilded Kingdom at the Heart of Asia

By: Richard A. Ruth

Narrated by: Anne James

A Brief History of Thailand offers an engaging look at the country's last 250 years - from coups and violent massacres to the invention of Pad Thai in the 1930s. Listeners will learn the vibrant story of Thailand's emergence as a prosperous Buddhist state, its transformation from traditional kingdom to democratic constitutional monarchy, and its subsequent rise to prominence in Southeast Asian affairs.

Thailand's dramatic history spans centuries of conflict, and this book recounts many of these fascinating episodes, including:

• The bloodless Siamese Revolution of 1932 that established overnight the first constitutional monarchy in Asia
• The Japanese invasion of Thailand and construction of the "Bridge Over the River Kwai
• The mysterious death of King Ananda Mahidol, murdered in his bed in 1946, and a source of controversy ever since

With this book, historian and professor Richard A. Ruth has skillfully crafted an accessible cultural and political history of an understudied nation. Covering events through the King's death in 2016, A Brief History of Thailand will be of interest to students, travelers, and anyone hoping to learn more about this part of the world.

©2021 Richard A. Ruth (P)2022 Tantor

Excellent

This was a surprisingly good listen. Quite detailed review of Thailand's history, and very engagingly narrated. It covers an extensive period of time up to recent times.

Exceeded my expectations

I really enjoyed the style of this book. The author captivated me with his narrative of Thailand’s past. I enjoyed getting to know the historical figures on a more personal level… it made their actions, motivations, and influences on Thailand’s history far more memorable than a dry delivery of facts and dates.

Fascinating

I listened to this twice before my first trip to Thailand this summer. Was great for understanding history culture and pronunciation. It's also up to date to current time.

A Missed Opportunity

The best part of this book was the narrator, who was one of the best I have heard on Audible. Her voice was clear, articulate, and very soothing.
Unfortunately, we live at a time where some historians try to subtly impose their worldview on their facts to promote their ideology. There is nothing wrong with an historian holding personal views, but they should let the historical facts fall where they may without filtering them to promote a personal prejudice, whatever it may be.

The book itself seemed fairly mundane as to ancient Thai history. It was only with the 1950s forward that the author’s strong ideological bent infused the remainder of the book with his personal leftist views and his analyses became suspect. If you are interested in modern Thai politics, and you believe history should tell a story of what happened without promoting a political ideology, you might want to skip this book.

I found the author very bright and a good writer, but at times it was just too difficult to separate fact from fiction, something that should not happen in a book of this sort.

Excellent!

The story of Thailand is so interesting.
Richard A. Ruth has done a fantastic job.
Anne James does a great job narrating.
All in all, I am so glad I got this book - and best of all ahead of my trip to Thailand.