"Anna and the King of Siam" is a wonderful blend of old-fashioned fiction writing and the meticulously researched true story of the young English woman who was the tutor to the children of King Mongkut of Siam during the 1860s. Her most important pupil was the prince who would become Thailand"s most progressive king. It was Anna who taught him about Abraham Lincoln and the Western ideals which would later influence his reign and the transformation of Thailand from a feudal state to a modern progressive society.