ABSTRACT
This book examines the long history of urban space in northern Thailand to advance three main goals: first, to move away from the nation-state as the dominant frame of historical analysis; second, to refocus scholarly attention away from the metropolis and toward the great urban middle; and third, to interrogate Siam’s complicated relationship with colonialism and empire, both internally with tributary states and externally with western powers such as the British, French, and Americans. This book explores these questions through the lens of urban space, beginning with the deep history of urbanization in the region, through the height of urban Lanna’s power, to its alliance with Siam and later incorporation in the modern Thai state.
