The Thai Royal Gifts described and illustrated in this volume are deeply symbolic of the long and evolving friendship between Thailand and the United States of America. This beautifully illustrated book documents for the first time a group of artifacts whose meaning and significance have, until now, been inadequately understood by scholars, and sometimes even misunderstood by the recipients of the gifts themselves -- the presidents and people of the United States. Yet for both Thais and Americans these gifts are truly historic, artistic and scientific treasures, through which the Kings of Thailand represented their nation, and its alliances with America through time. 'Treasures of Two Nations' will interest art, social and diplomatic historians; anthropologists, linguists and ethnomusicologists; students of Thai theater and culture, and all those will appreciate the aesthetic quality of the gift objects or the stories those objects were meant to tell. -- Amazon.com.