Southeast Asian history and historiography would be greatly handicapped if the writings of Nicholas Tarling (b. 1931), currently emeritus professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, were removed from the increasingly expanding literature. His books and articles have attained 'classic' status, never failing to be listed in students' 'Required Reading Lists'. In critically scrutinizing and analysing British imperial designs on the region, Tarling has contributed significantly to the historiography of Southeast Asia as Great Britain was a major player, if not the dalang (puppeteer) of events and developments on the geopolitical stage. Tarling's corpus of works, specifically his papers published in scholarly journals, is an essential guide to the politics and history of Southeast Asia.

Throughout its history, Thailand has shown remarkable resiliency, adaptability, and creativity in responding to serious threats and crises, and this since much earlier times when it was known as Siam. This book, while focusing on the modern period, does reach back to ancient kingdoms but also shows the impressive rise to a modern democracy, although still endowed with a king, and even more impressively, an economic “tiger.” Moreover, it has become a prime tourist destination and is thus known to vast numbers of foreigners as a sort of “instant Asia.” The Historical Dictionary of Thailand, now in its third edition, covers this amazing story in various ways. First, the chronology traces the most significant events from year to year. The introduction then provides a good overview of the land and people, the history and traditions, and where it now seems to be heading. The dictionary, which by now has hundreds of detailed and cross-referenced entries, looks more closely at important persons, places, institutions and events as well as more generally its politics, economy, society, culture and religion. So this is an excellent reference work not only for scholars but many others who have visited the country and were fascinated by it.