Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns and the Making of Modern Siam:

This study is based on three thousand pages of privately held letters and diaries of HM King Chulalongkorn’s General Adviser and other Belgian advisers working in Siam. The book covers the crucial period of Siam’s modernization, from September 1892 until January 1902, from the inside. It contains never before revealed information on a wide variety of developments of the time, from big powers’ attempts to usurp Siam’s independence over the Paknam Incident of 13 July 1893, to the arcane day-by-day struggles to implement much needed internal reforms of the kingdom’s legal framework and bureaucracy. This book offers material that has never before seen the light of day and astounding facts that change our understanding of the shaping of the free nation as it is known today.