Review
Kersten's translation offers something for both historians of European expansion and early modern world economy --
Charles Wheeler in: Itinerario 28:2 (2004)
From the Inside Flap
Strange Events in the Kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos (1635-1644) describes a turbulent decade in the relations of the Dutch East India Company with Cambodia and gives an account of the first recorded European venture into neighboring Laos. Composed of material from a variety of East India Company records, it was published in 1669 by Pieter Casteleyn, a bookprinter from in the Dutch town of Haarlem. The book gives detailed descriptions of the situation at the Cambodian court during those years, Dutch-Cambodian commercial relations, and the intense rivalry between the Dutch and Portuguese. The account of the expedition to Laos led by Geraerd Wusthof records interesting details on the route between Phnom Penh and Viang Chan, and is full of fascinating observations on Lao court ceremony, people’s customs and livelihood, and Buddhist traditions. The only translation ever -- in French -- was commissioned in 1871 by the French explorer Francis Garnier, a former member of the French Mekong Exploration Commission (1866-1868). This first English translation of an important but much neglected source on Indochina is a welcome addition to the growing body of texts on Southeast Asian history and travel.
