Customer Reviews

A History of Nepal

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A wonderfully written book on the history of Nepal after its unification. Whelpton gives an unbiased viewpoint on the events that have transpired in Nepal's turbulent historical past. He starts out by giving a geographical, social, cultural background of the country, then continues to narrate its history from how the nation was born to the near present (Nepal has seen drastic political changes in the years after 2005). He points out the major players and events that have shaped the country's present. Apart from just identifying the events and players, Whelpton also does a great job of showing what situations conspired to bring them together. The basic attitude of Nepalese politics and politicians is aptly summarized. The chapter on Nepalese lifestyle, values and identities is a real treat. He has also dedicated a chapter on the Nepalese attempts at development in which he tries to describe why Nepal is not making as much progress as it would like on that front. The final chapter most notably describes the current feelings of ordinary Nepalese towards their politicians and their disillusionment with democracy.

The concept of `Sanskritization', an introduction to the major ethnic groups and their struggle to survive and thrive in changing circumstances is also very nicely put.

Short biographical notes of prominent personalities In Nepalese history from the Buddha to the present day politicians at the end of the book were a treat to read.

Nowhere in the book does Whelpton say that Nepal was part of India, as a previous reviewer has mistakenly mentioned. Magadha did subdue the Shakyas, the Buddha's clan, as history shows us, but that does not mean that India took over Nepal.

All in all, this book is a must for anyone interested in Nepal and Nepalese history, and would like to go beyond just dates and events. Even for a native like myself who already knew most of the things in the book, I could not put this book down.

Dont buy this book... save ur self some time. most of the things in this book are false.... as a nepali, i know more of the true history of nepal than this writer.. the writer is not a nepali himself, why trust him? this book is just the modified version of the true history of nepal.

inside this book:

history of buddha---false
history of nepal in 17th century, about kings and kingdoms-- mostly false (says nepal was a part of india back when buddha was born.. nepal was an independent country back then, ans it is now)

history of the expanding territory of nepal-- true
history if the battle between nepal and great britain-- partly false

so, save urself some time. the modified version of our nepali history isnt interesting at all. the real history is awesome. pick another book to read.
u will enjoy reading the real history of nepal.