Études réunies par B. Brae de la Perrière et M.-L. Reiniche. Paris: École Francaise d'Extrême-Orient, 2006. 312 p., il. (Études thématiques. 15)* This peer-reviewed collective monograph is devoted to the study of tsarist power in different parts of South and Southeast Asia. It consists of an introduction written by B. Braque de la Perrier and M.-L. Reinisch, and seven essays on various times and regions, united primarily by the authors ' approach to the study of societies of the past and present, which is described in the introduction. B. Braque de la Perriere and M.-L. Reinisch suggest applying an "anthropological" approach to the study of societies (in the sense borrowed from cultural anthropology/ethnography), according to which, firstly, we should not reify the categories of thinking we use, such as "political" and "religious"; secondly, we should not reify the categories of thinking we use, such as "political" and "religious". It is necessary to take into account their mobile, unstable nature and sometimes completely different from the current relationship in cultures of the past and present; third, it is necessary to study the ways in which communities of people create and think their own unity or identity; fourth, in each case, it is necessary to establish a complex and contradictory relationship between a particular culture and politics and a particular religion (pp. 2-5). French researchers wonder how the tsar became a special entity (un itre singulier), separated from the rest of society, while retaining the ability to represent the latter. But the answer to this question can be given, in their opinion, only after studying the specific case of accession. It is particularly important to emphasize the importance of this kind of research in light of the fact that ancient and medieval Asian monarchies founded their own monarchies. * Images of the world. Hindu and Buddhist monarchies of South and Southeast Asia / Edited by B. Braque de la Perrier and M.-L. Rein ... Read more