The latest issue of the Journal of Lao Studies (vol. 2, no. 1, [2011]) has been released. As well as the three featured essays, check out the interview with Grant Evans and a review of New Mandala contributor Oliver Tappe’s book on iconography and historiography in Laos, which is inaccessible to the majority of us who do not read German. Here is the summary and table of contents from the journal:

Our featured essays include Grabowsky and Tappe’s “Important Kings of Laos,” which provides an analytical overview of kingship, nationalism, and the importance of Lao Kings to the current political situation. Mitchell’s review article, on Waeng Phalangwan’s Lao-Isan perspective on the Lukthung music genre, highlights the Isan ethno and regional empowerment through the power of music in the midst of a strong Central Thai domination; and finally our last essay from Southiseng and Walsh’s fieldwork research reveals the state of the labor force in the growing tourist industry of a UNESCO World Heritage City, Luang Phrabang. Also included in this issue are an interview with Dr. Grant Evans conducted by Dr. Boike Rehbein and three book reviews–all within the scope of Lao Studies.

Articles

“Important Kings of Laos”: Translation and Analysis of a Lao Cartoon Pamphlet Abstract PDF
Volker Grabowsky, Oliver Tappe 1-44
Study of Tourism and Labour in Luang Prabang Province Abstract PDF
Nittana Southiseng, John Christopher Walsh 45-65
Review Article: Waeng Phalangwan – A Lao-Isan Perspective on Thai Lukthung Abstract PDF
James Mitchell 66-96

Interviews

Interview with Grant Evans PDF
Boike Rehbein 97-107

Reviews

Briggs, Thomas Leo. Cash on Delivery: CIA Special Operations During the Secret War in Laos. Rockville, Maryland: Rosebank Press, 2009. 366 pp. PDF
Ian G Baird 108-116
Tappe, Oliver. Geschichte, Nationsbildung und Legitimationspolitik in Laos. Untersuchungen zur laotischen Historiographie und Ikonographie, Berlin: LIT, 2008. 394pp. PDF
Boike Rehbein 117-119
Evans, Grant. The Last Century of Lao Royalty: A Documentary History. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2009. pp. 430+xv. PDF
Justin McDaniel 120-123