The essays in this volume form a rich collage of the central Mekong basin spanning nearly 1,400 years of history. Gathered from an international group of scholars, each with a unique approach to the region, this research draws upon materials in more than a dozen languages scattered in archives around the world. Topics include basic structural problems in writing Lao history; political geography from the 600s to 800s; separate discussions of Lao, Vietnamese, and Western sources of early Lao history; the Lao-Tay-son alliance in the late eighteenth century; Lao millenarian movements and...

Capturing the vanishing memory of ancient rituals, recited texts, and places imbued with echoes of the past, The Enduring SacredLandscape of the Naga recounts the lived texture of human experience in the Mekong River valley. The book reconstructs the history of those areas fused with legends and lore of the tutelary spirits of the region known as the ngu (serpent), ngeuak (salt-water crocodile), and naga (supernatural beings with both snake and human attributes).

While naga iconography adorns Buddhist temples throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in Laos and northeastern Thailand,...