ISBN: 0521804701
Cambridge University Press
2005 - Taschenbuch - 312 Seiten

While John Whelpton's history of Nepal focuses on the period since the overthrow of the Rana family autocracy in 1950-51, the early chapters are devoted to the origins of the kingdom and the evolving relations of its diverse peoples. Whelpton portrays a country of extraordinary contrasts, whose history has been buffeted constantly by its neighbors, China and India. Economic and political turmoil over the last fifty years came to a climax with the massacre of the royal family in 2001, when the country erupted into civil war. This book is the most comprehensive and accessible English-language one-volume history of Nepal. John Whelpton, who works as a teacher in Hong Kong, is an historian and linguist. He has worked and traveled extensively in Nepal, and has written numerous articles and books on the subject. These include Nationalism & Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics and Culture of Contemporary Nepal (Routledge, 1997), and Kings, Soldiers and Priests: Nepalese Politics and the Rise of Jang Bahadur Rana, 1830-1857 (South Asia Books, 1992).

Content
1 Environment, state and society in the Central Himalayas to 1743
2 Unification and saskritisation, 1743-1885
3 Nepal under the Shamsher Ranas, 1885-1951
4 The monarchy in ascendance : domestic politics and foreign relations, 1951-1991
5 The quest for 'development' : economy and environment, 1951-1991
6 Lifestyles, values, identities : changes in Nepalese society, 1951-1991
7 Democracy and disillusionment : Nepal since 1991