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Title: Bunch of Hooey!
Review: This book should be listed under "historical fiction" or "Mere Opinions of an English Imperialist Victorian Woman". The book upon which the fun movie "The Kind and I" is based, is only the very jaundiced view by an arrogant Victorian Englishwoman of Thai life in the age of Imperialism and not in the slightest a reflection of the true reality. Her portrayal of King Mongkut (Rama IV) borders on libel. Instead of the ignorant barbarian she portrays he was actually an incredibly cultured and sophisticated and enlightened man who, among other things, saved his country from colonization (only Thailand, Japan, and Ethiopia were not subjected by the imperialist powers in the 19th century) by playing the English off against the French while cultivating good relations with them. For a true portrayal of the kind and the times, read MONGKUT, KING OF SIAM, by A.L. Moffat, not this book.
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