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Vietnam & Cambodia - Culturious

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXSEA225. Buy these 4 items as a set for $77 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Eyewitness Guide Vietnam and Angkor Wat

Eyewitness Guide Vietnam and Angkor Wat

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 312 PAGES

Featuring innovative site diagrams, local maps and hundreds of color photographs, this handy companion introduces the culture, history and attractions of Vietnam. (VNM102, $25.00)

Understanding Vietnam

Understanding Vietnam

by Neil Jamieson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 428 PAGES

Jamieson's ambitious primer addresses politics, social history, village life, structural renewal, literature and the arts, illuminating the Vietnamese worldview with insight and depth. It's a terrific introduction to Vietnam. (VNM01, $27.95)

The River's Tale, A Year on the Mekong

The River's Tale, A Year on the Mekong

by Edward Gargan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A personal, probing chronicle of a 3,000 mile journey on the river from its source in China through Tibet, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. (SEA33, $15.95)

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia Map

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia Map

by Nelles

  • 2010
  • MAP

A convenient, double-sided map of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam at a scale of 1:1,500,000, with city maps of Hanoi, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh City, Luang Prabang, and Phnom Penh. (SEA75, $13.95)

 
Odyssey Guide Angkor

Odyssey Guide Angkor


by Dawn Rooney

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

The sixth edition of Rooney's indispensable guide to Khmer culture and history. Includes monuments, temple plans, color photographs and practical information about Siem Reap. (CBD05, $27.95)

A History of Cambodia

A History of Cambodia


by David Chandler

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 312 PAGES

An excellent, scholarly history from early civilization through the rise of Angkor, French colonial period, Vietnamization of Cambodia, Khmer Rouge and Coup de Force of 1997. (CBD27, $38.00)

A Traveller's History of Southeast Asia

A Traveller's History of Southeast Asia


by J.M. Barwise | Nicholas J. White

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES
  • COMING IN MARCH

A compact history of the region, including the Khmer and the various ancient kingdoms that produced Borobudur, Angkor and other architectural marvels. (SEA36, $14.95)

Cambodia After the Khmer Rouge, Inside the Politics of Nation Building


by Evan R. Gottesman

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 454 PAGES

Gottesman, deputy director of the ABA Cambodia Law and Democracy Project in the 1990s, traces the far-ranging impact of the Khmer regime from its ouster in 1979 to the signing of the peace accord in 1991. (CBD55, $26.00)

Shadows and Wind

Shadows and Wind


by Robert Templer

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

A British journalist based in Vietnam, Templer cuts through myth and legend to offer a lively, opinionated portrait of contemporary Vietnam. (VNM43, $17.00)

The Civilization of Angkor

The Civilization of Angkor


by Charles Higham

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 207 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A concise history of the origins, development and rise of the kingdom of Angkor by a leading archaeologist. It's an up-to-date, accessible overview of the civilization from prehistory through the fall of Angkor in 1431. (CBD26, $24.95)

The Mekong, Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future

The Mekong, Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future


by Milton Osborne

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

A cultural history of the great river from prehistory to European exploration, colonial tensions and modern challenges. It's an engaging introduction to the history of Southeast Asia. (SEA28, $16.00)

Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind, and Spirit

Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind, and Spirit


by Nguyen Van Huy | Laurel Kendall

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 303 PAGES

A marvelously illustrated portrait of culture and society in contemporary Vietnam, featuring informed essays by diverse contributors with accompanying color photographs. (VNM66, $50.00)

Art & Architecture of Cambodia

Art & Architecture of Cambodia


by Helen Ibbitson Jessup

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Jessup includes not just Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei but also lesser-known recent discoveries in the surrounding jungle in this illustrated overview in the World of Art series. (CBD41, $16.95)

A Dragon Apparent, Travels in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

A Dragon Apparent, Travels in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam


by Norman Lewis

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 358 PAGES
  • FAVORITE
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

A classic account of travels and adventure during the last years of French Indochina, strong on atmosphere and including wonderfully detailed descriptions of local cultures and archaeological treasures. First published in 1951. (SEA40, $33.95)

Descending the Dragon, My Journey Down the Coast of Vietnam

Descending the Dragon, My Journey Down the Coast of Vietnam


by Rob Howard | Jon Bowermaster

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

Bowermaster and a team, including his long suffering foreign press monitor and photographers, set forth from Hanoi by kayak to explore the long coast of Vietnam on a two-month-long journey of discovery. With dozens of color and black-and-white photographs. (VNM121, $21.95)

First They Killed My Father, A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

First They Killed My Father, A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers


by Loung Ung

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

An eye-opening eyewitness account of the atrocities suffered by millions of Cambodians from the perspective of a young girl who survived the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. (CBD13, $13.99)

The Gods Drink Whiskey

The Gods Drink Whiskey


by Stephen T. Asma

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Asma writes with verve and wit in this eye-opening account of his yearlong stint teaching at the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh. His account is both an overview of Theravada Buddhism and a down-to-earth portrait of contemporary Cambodia. (CBD46, $14.99)

The Sacred Willow, Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family

The Sacred Willow, Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family


by Duong Van Mai Elliott

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 506 PAGES

This vivid family saga, beginning with the author's great-grandfather, captures the life and momentous history of Vietnam over the last 100 years. (VNM39, $24.99)

The Quiet American

The Quiet American


by Graham Greene

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 180 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

A classic, this is the most famous Western work of fiction on Vietnam. Greene writes of a love triangle between a war correspondent, his Vietnamese consort and an optimistic young American during the last days of French rule. (VNM08, $16.00)

Vietnam, A Traveler's Literary Companion

Vietnam, A Traveler's Literary Companion


by John Balaban | Nguyen Qui Duc

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 239 PAGES
  • COMING IN FEBRUARY

From rain forest and rural countryside to the cities, these 17 stories from Vietnam's finest writers explore Vietnam's landscapes, myths and changing traditions. (VNM04, $14.95)

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia


by Morten Strange

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 40 PAGES

A compact photographic guide to almost 700 species of birds in the region, featuring concise descriptions and distribution maps. (SEA39, $38.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.