This book concerns the French intervention in Siam, 1685-1688, particularly the cataclysmic last year, during which Phetracha, the usurper and future king, held the ailing King Narai prisoner until his death. Marcel Le Blanc was one of fourteen Jesuits who arrived in Siam at the request of King Narai to promote the study of mathematics and astrology, but he became inextricably involved in events surrounding Phetracha's coup d'etat. He was in Bangkok during the siege and the arrival of the King's favorite, Madame Phalkon, who was subsequently arrested and killed. He describes his departure from the country with the French troops, his capture by the Dutch at the Cape, and his imprisonment in Middleburg. This new English edition of the book, first published in 1692, has been translated, introduced, and annotated by Michael Smithies, well-known scholar of the period

This text comprises three texts which shed light on the failure of the French to colonize Siam at the end of the 17th century. Events surrounding the coup d'etat of 18th May, 1688, which took place in the Siamese Versailles at Lopburi, are examined. The coup d'etat of 18 May 1688 in the Siamese Versailles at Lopburi led to the establishment of the last Ayutthayan dynasty, known to history as that of Ban Phlu Luang. But it was not just another internal palace coup in the face of the imminent death of the reigning monarch, Narai. For the king's favourite,

The first full history of a great commercial and political center that rose in Asia over almost five centuries.