The good, the bad and the ugly is the simple way to sum up Cambodian history. Things were good in the early years, culminating in the vast Ang­kor empire, unrivalled in the region during four centuries of dominance. Then the bad set in, from the 13th century, as ascendant neighbours steadily chipped away at Cambodian territory. In the 20th century it turned downright ugly, as a brutal civil war lead to the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge (1975-79), from which Cambodia is still recovering.