A Thai Buddhist and US-trained historian, Tiyavanich weaves together stories about Siam in the 19th and early 20th centuries that illuminate the life of the Buddhist culture. They tell of village monks encountering giant snakes, a Christian missionary gored by an elephant, bandits and boatmen, a dog-bodhisattva, midwives, guardian spirits, and other topics. Distributed in the US by the University of Washington Press. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)