Referred to as "the cradle of Thai culture", the city of Sukhothai in north-central Thailand now lies in extensive and impressive ruins that are a testimony to a period from the mid-thirteenth to the mid-fifteenth centuries of the accomplishments of this independent city in the fields of architecture, sculpture, painting, and ceramics. Despite the historical importance ascribed to Sukhothai in laying the political, cultural, and artistic foundations for the modern day Thai state, the facts of its founding, growth, and decline have been shrouded until fairly recently in mystery, being largely dependent on an unreliable oral tradition. Drawing on twentieth-century study of scores of abandoned stone inscriptions and archaeological research, Gosling paints a rich picture of the political, religious, and cultural life of the Sukhothai period. Read Less