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A Brief History of Thailand

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

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A Brief History of Thailand

By: Richard A. Ruth
Narrated by: Anne James
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About this listen

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 Anthropology Asia Southeast Asia Royalty Thailand History

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All stars
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The narrator had a lovely calm, but not boring, voice. It was great to have a brief over view of Thai history before visiting. The only thing I felt I missed was more ancient history - the time of ayutthaya.

Great overview

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The book focuses almost exclusively on last century, and only on politics. The title of the book is confusing as it suggests much broader scope.

This is a very limited history

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I was really looking forward to reading this and it&s really an extended journal of kings with far too much time given to the past two hundred years and only one chapter about the most interesting period. People stopped writing about kings and the machinery of government like this generations ago
What I’m waiting for is a general history of south-east Asia and this could have been cobbled together from newspaper headlines and perhaps the odd in-depth political commentary; deeply boring, and how this helps a traveller heaven knows.
So many authors of ‘brief histories’ of Asian countries seem to think that the history begins with modern times and colonialism or the threat of it.
Back to the drawing board please.

You don’t write history like this nowadays!

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