First English translation of an important study of the records of early Spanish and Portuguese missionaries and adventurers, detailing their interactions with the Khmers. These comprise most of the very few surviving early first-hand accounts of the Khmers and Angkor-and the sole records of Western visitors-four hundred years prior to the arrival of the French in Indochina. Includes detailed observations on Khmer architecture, royalty, religion, society and economy of the period just prior to Angkor's final decline. Groslier concludes with a summary of observations of later visitors to Angkor, including Dutch, Japanese and finally French.