John Burgess masterfully brings to life the modern history of Cambodia’s fabled Angkor temples, from their ‘discovery’ by French explorers in the mid-19th century, through the decades of French colonialism, to the tragic wars and genocide in the latter part of the 20th century. He explains how the temples miraculously survive while so much of Cambodia has been lost or changed forever. . . . An invaluable and riveting book about one of the greatest man-made wonders of the world.