About civilisations

1. Nepal: Struggle for Existence by Jagadish Sharma, pages 1,021, Rs 999

2. In Search of Shangri-La by Michael McRae, paperback, published by Penguin books, pp 240, Rs 500

3. The Clash of Civilizations: And the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P Huntington, paperback, published by Penguin books, pp 368, Rs 500

4. This Is Paradise! by Hyok Kang, paperback, published by Little Brown, pp 176, Rs 895

5. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive by Jared Diamond, paperback, published by Penguin books, pp 592, Rs 1,095

What the books are about

Nepal: Struggle for Existence

Nepal: Struggle for Existence, a seminal work being also the first of its kind, is reprinted to meet public demand. The epilogue updates the book with a view to find measures to those who may want to continue the struggle for Nepal’s independent existence. The role Nepal has played between the Chinese and Indian civilisations and the impact it has had in creating a symbiotic culture are mentioned. Relations with China have been well depicted along with an extensive coverage of relations with India. Movement away from a satellite relationship with India to a more independent status is the hallmark of the PhD thesis written under the guidance of  Leo E Rose and constitutes the first part of the book. Unification of Nepal, the 1950 Treaty with India, Revolution launched against Rana oligarchy, Delhi Compromise, resurgence of Nepali nationalism, Anti-India movement, General Elections insetting parliamentary democracy and its ouster in 1960, Panchayat era, Restoration of Democracy in 1990, Royal Massacre, King’s Coup and Jana Andolan are highlighted. 

This Is Paradise!

This is Paradise! is both a shocking and moving portrayal of scenes of every day life in North Korea, a secretive and brutal nation. Hyok Kang writes of the public executions, of the labour camps and mines, the punishment for ‘anti-social behaviour’, the secret watching of Beijing television, and the spies everywhere who help enforce the regime by denouncing any deviations from the rigidly patrolled norm. And when the famine comes so too does death by starvation of friends and close ones, cannibalism, and political purge. All this is normal for Hyok Kang. After all, the propaganda North Koreans are fed by their government insists that compared to the rest of the world, this is paradise! Woven into this portrayal is the individual story of a boy who likes to draw — some of his accomplished illustrations are included in the book — and of his migration to China as an asylum seeker. This is his story of suffering and survival, and is a rare glimpse of a nation closed to the outside world, whose knowledge of what lies beyond its borders is censured and whose leaders are determined to prevent us from knowing their situation.

Collapse

From groundbreaking writer and thinker, Jared Diamond comes an epic, visionary new book on the mysterious collapse of past civilisations — and what this means for our future. Why do some societies flourish, while others founder? What happened to the people who made the long-abandoned statues of Easter Island or architects of the Maya pyramids? Will we go the same way, our skyscrapers one day standing derelict and overgrown like the temples at Angkor Wat? Bringing together new evidence from a startling range of sources and piecing together the myriad influences, from climate to culture, that make societies self-destruct, Collapse shows how unlike our ancestors we can benefit from our knowledge of the past and learn to be survivors.

Information courtesy: UNITED BOOKS, Ganesh Man Singh building, Northfield Cafe ph: 4229 512; Bluebird stores in Lazimpat & Tripureshwore, ph: 4245 726; Momo’s and More, Old Baneshwor; Himalayan Java; Saturday Cafe, Bouddha; Namaste Supermarket in Pulchowk, ph: 5525 017