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The Ancient Civilization of Angkor
This is the story of an ancient dynasty of rulers who used their divine command to build one of the wonders of the world...of architects who designed temples in which they never worshipped...of willing peasants who tied themselves, twenty-five at a time, to giant sandstone blocks and hauled them miles to be carved into friezes they would never see. Scorning trade, militant only when forced to fight, the Khmers were a people as unique in life-style as in art. Christopher Pym describes them as they lived, labored, and lost their world--and left a heritage to modern Cambodia that still stands, magnificent and unparalleled, in the 20th century.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1968
11 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Pym
5 booksChristopher Pym, writer and local politician: born Bristol 13 January 1929; married Clemency Luce (two sons, two daughters; marriage dissolved); died Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 1 December 2001.
A scholar and writer on Cambodia, parliamentary candidate, long-serving district councillor, chair of school governors – Christopher Pym was not easy to pigeonhole. He was a man of many talents and considerable energy, much of which in recent years was focused on the community he served in Milton Keynes.
In the 1950s Pym had travelled extensively in Indochina. The result was four acclaimed works on Cambodia which are still required reading on the region. The Road to Angkor (1959) was followed by Mistapim in Cambodia (1960). Pym later edited and abridged Henri Mouhot's Diary (1966), the diary of the French explorer who in the mid-19th century had discovered the existence of the Khmer monarchy and the temples of Angkor Wat. The Ancient Civilization of Angkor (1968) was Pym's final work in a series which greatly increased Western understanding of Cambodia and its culture.
He was born in 1929, the son of Tom Pym, Canon of Bristol Cathedral, and Dora Ivens, a writer and classics lecturer at Bristol University. He remembered as a boy seeing Winston Churchill bestowing an honorary degree on the Australian prime minister in the bomb-damaged university after a heavy wartime raid on the city.
At Clifton College Junior School Pym was a contemporary of William (now Lord) Rees-Mogg, who later said that Pym was the only boy to achieve consistently higher marks than he. At Cambridge he performed with the Footlights alongside the composer and lyricist Julian Slade and Peter Hall. After National Service, he embarked upon his travels in Cambodia.
On his return to Britain, politics became Pym's abiding passion. In 1960, a parliamentary by-election was called in the safe Labour seat of Blyth in Northumberland. Apart from the incumbent party's nominee and a Conservative, no other candidate had emerged until Pym got himself nominated as an Independent. Fringe candidates were then a rarity at by-elections but Pym was determined to challenge the two-party stranglehold. Friends travelled north to help. One was asked by a local reporter about the candidate's politics. "Oh I've no idea," came the reply. "Speaking personally I am an 18th-century Whig." Pym astonished the local political establishment by holding his deposit and taking 5,000 votes.
A job at the Open University took him to Milton Keynes in the mid-1970s. As a course co-ordinator in education he was part of a team which developed radical new thinking on the teaching of children with special needs, advocating their integration into mainstream schools before it became accepted practice. Later he worked on courses relating to renewable energy. His expertise took him to conferences around Europe and seminars at the Cabinet Office.He was Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Milton Keynes South West in 1992, but around the city he was best known as an energetic and high-profile district councillor. Elected in 1983, he was on the council for 17 years. He was ahead of his time with many ideas: his campaign for play areas and a council-funded play officer drew scorn from his opponents but such schemes are now commonplace. Friends believed Pym was "the best mayor Milton Keynes never had". He was particularly proud to be elected the first chair of governors at a new Milton Keynes school, Walton High.
Even after standing down as a councillor himself in 2000, he supported his long-term partner Liz Keller when she was elected to his former council seat, styling himself her chef de cabinet.
A scholar and writer on Cambodia, parliamentary candidate, long-serving district councillor, chair of school governors – Christopher Pym was not easy to pigeonhole. He was a man of many talents and considerable energy, much of which in recent years was focused on the community he served in Milton Keynes.
In the 1950s Pym had travelled extensively in Indochina. The result was four acclaimed works on Cambodia which are still required reading on the region. The Road to Angkor (1959) was followed by Mistapim in Cambodia (1960). Pym later edited and abridged Henri Mouhot's Diary (1966), the diary of the French explorer who in the mid-19th century had discovered the existence of the Khmer monarchy and the temples of Angkor Wat. The Ancient Civilization of Angkor (1968) was Pym's final work in a series which greatly increased Western understanding of Cambodia and its culture.
He was born in 1929, the son of Tom Pym, Canon of Bristol Cathedral, and Dora Ivens, a writer and classics lecturer at Bristol University. He remembered as a boy seeing Winston Churchill bestowing an honorary degree on the Australian prime minister in the bomb-damaged university after a heavy wartime raid on the city.
At Clifton College Junior School Pym was a contemporary of William (now Lord) Rees-Mogg, who later said that Pym was the only boy to achieve consistently higher marks than he. At Cambridge he performed with the Footlights alongside the composer and lyricist Julian Slade and Peter Hall. After National Service, he embarked upon his travels in Cambodia.
On his return to Britain, politics became Pym's abiding passion. In 1960, a parliamentary by-election was called in the safe Labour seat of Blyth in Northumberland. Apart from the incumbent party's nominee and a Conservative, no other candidate had emerged until Pym got himself nominated as an Independent. Fringe candidates were then a rarity at by-elections but Pym was determined to challenge the two-party stranglehold. Friends travelled north to help. One was asked by a local reporter about the candidate's politics. "Oh I've no idea," came the reply. "Speaking personally I am an 18th-century Whig." Pym astonished the local political establishment by holding his deposit and taking 5,000 votes.
A job at the Open University took him to Milton Keynes in the mid-1970s. As a course co-ordinator in education he was part of a team which developed radical new thinking on the teaching of children with special needs, advocating their integration into mainstream schools before it became accepted practice. Later he worked on courses relating to renewable energy. His expertise took him to conferences around Europe and seminars at the Cabinet Office.He was Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Milton Keynes South West in 1992, but around the city he was best known as an energetic and high-profile district councillor. Elected in 1983, he was on the council for 17 years. He was ahead of his time with many ideas: his campaign for play areas and a council-funded play officer drew scorn from his opponents but such schemes are now commonplace. Friends believed Pym was "the best mayor Milton Keynes never had". He was particularly proud to be elected the first chair of governors at a new Milton Keynes school, Walton High.
Even after standing down as a councillor himself in 2000, he supported his long-term partner Liz Keller when she was elected to his former council seat, styling himself her chef de cabinet.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 1, 2017
everyday life in ancient Cambodia
Written in the 1960s, Pym's book was unique at the time: a work that endeavored to portray life in the Khmer civilization of Southeast Asia in the 11th through 13th centuries, when Cambodia's kings and their kingdom were at their height. Rather than writing a straight-out history of the Khmer Empire, Pym used all available sources to construct a picture of how life must have been. These sources---stone inscriptions, a few Chinese reports and records, the evidence of bas reliefs on the walls of Angkor buildings, and archeological findings---are none too plentiful and have been utilized by all historians before and since. Comparison with modern (i.e. 1960s) Cambodians are also used sparingly.
I'm not sure of the author's background, but he seems to have adhered to an old theory about "Indian settlement" in Cambodia and SE Asia. I think now most scholars feel that cultural influence was paramount rather than physical presence of any body of `settlers'. Also, he uses the strange word "Ganeca" instead of the more normal "Ganesh" or "Ganesa", saying that the origin of this elephant-headed god is obscure. Far from it ! Ask any Indian Hindu. It is one of the most popular of the myriad tales of gods and demons.
Petty matters aside, there was a series, many years ago, called "the Centers of Civilization Series" published by the University of Oklahoma. They covered a wide variety of places and times from Algiers in the age of the corsairs to Aix-la-Chapelle in the age of Charlemagne. Though Pym's book was not one of them, its function is very similar to those volumes' and it is easily as interesting. I can't say the ACofA is up to date, or contains the latest findings about Cambodian history, but if you have any curiosity about one of the world's brilliant civilizations, I think you'll have to read it. It covers not only religion and kingship, but things like domestic life, building materials and methods, literary taste, entertainment, the role of women, festivals, social customs, and more. The black and white photographs might once have been enticing, but today there are innumerable coffee table books and illustrated guides or histories with better.
Written in the 1960s, Pym's book was unique at the time: a work that endeavored to portray life in the Khmer civilization of Southeast Asia in the 11th through 13th centuries, when Cambodia's kings and their kingdom were at their height. Rather than writing a straight-out history of the Khmer Empire, Pym used all available sources to construct a picture of how life must have been. These sources---stone inscriptions, a few Chinese reports and records, the evidence of bas reliefs on the walls of Angkor buildings, and archeological findings---are none too plentiful and have been utilized by all historians before and since. Comparison with modern (i.e. 1960s) Cambodians are also used sparingly.
I'm not sure of the author's background, but he seems to have adhered to an old theory about "Indian settlement" in Cambodia and SE Asia. I think now most scholars feel that cultural influence was paramount rather than physical presence of any body of `settlers'. Also, he uses the strange word "Ganeca" instead of the more normal "Ganesh" or "Ganesa", saying that the origin of this elephant-headed god is obscure. Far from it ! Ask any Indian Hindu. It is one of the most popular of the myriad tales of gods and demons.
Petty matters aside, there was a series, many years ago, called "the Centers of Civilization Series" published by the University of Oklahoma. They covered a wide variety of places and times from Algiers in the age of the corsairs to Aix-la-Chapelle in the age of Charlemagne. Though Pym's book was not one of them, its function is very similar to those volumes' and it is easily as interesting. I can't say the ACofA is up to date, or contains the latest findings about Cambodian history, but if you have any curiosity about one of the world's brilliant civilizations, I think you'll have to read it. It covers not only religion and kingship, but things like domestic life, building materials and methods, literary taste, entertainment, the role of women, festivals, social customs, and more. The black and white photographs might once have been enticing, but today there are innumerable coffee table books and illustrated guides or histories with better.
Displaying 1 of 1 review