Translated and edited by Michael Smithies. Many factors contributed to the 1688 coup d'etat that established Siam's last Ayutthayan monarchy. The often-contradictory French influence was significant. This illustrated volume translates into English for the first time three contemporary French accounts and each is put into context by a modern introduction. The controversial General Desfarges has a self-justificatory memoir; Lt. de la Touche tells of his capture and torture at Mergui;  and the military engineer Vollant des Verquains offers a different point view.