A History of Nepal

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).