Temple in the Clouds

Perched atop a five-hundred-metre cliff in the far north of Cambodia, Preah Vihear temple ranks among the world's holiest sites. It was built at a millennium ago as a shrine to the Hindu god Shiva by the same civilization that gave the world Angkor Wat. But modern times tragically transformed it into a battlefield prize. Cambodian factions fought each other for control during the country's long civil war, and in recent years the land around the temple has been the focus of a sometimes violent border dispute with Thailand. In 'Temple in the clouds, former Washington post correspondent John Burgess and author of two previous books on Cambodia, draws on extensive research in Cambodia, Thailand, France and the United States to recount the clifftop monument's full history, ancient and legal modern. He reveals previously unknown legal strategies and diplomatic maneuvering behind a contentious World Court case of 1959-1962 that awarded the temple to Cambodia. Written in a lively style, 'Temple in the clouds' brings new insight to one of Southeast Asia's greatest temples and most intractable border conflicts.