| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.1

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Asia

Maurizio Peleggi. Lords of Things: The Fashioning of the Siamese Monarchy's Modern Image. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 2002. Pp. ix, 232. $19.95.

Maurizio Peleggi's book describes how the Siamese (Thai) royalty reinvented itself through contact with Europe during the reign of King Chulalongkorn (1868–1910). In this endeavor the royal elite achieved both of its goals: to become "members of the fraternal order of world royalty" (p. 13) and to appear as a civilizing, modernizing force within the domestic and international arenas. We find Thai royalty acquiring a Western (i.e. Victorian) lifestyle through the consumption of Western luxury goods. The importance of state dinners and the growing popularity of banquets promoted the use of Western silver, dinner, and glass wares. The need to appear "modern" led to the disappearance of older hairstyles and dress. And the camera changed the way in which royalty presented itself. Instead of an aloof, distant monarchy, royalty now promoted its contacts with its subjects and its images in photographs, coins, stamps, and postcards.

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