Book excerpt: 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