Battles of The New Republic

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Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal is a story of Nepal's transformation from war to peace, monarchy to republic, a Hindu kingdom to a secular state, and a unitary to a potentially federal state. Part-reportage, part-history, part-analysis, part-memoir, and part-biography of the key characters, the book breaks new ground in political writing from the region. It gives an unprecedented glimpse into Kathmandu's high politics while coupling this with ground-level reportage on the lives of ordinary citizens of the hills and the plains, striving for a democratic, just, and equitable society. It tracks the hard grind of political negotiations at the heart of the instability in Nepal, traces the rise of a popular rebellion, its integration into the mainstream, and its steady decline. It investigates Nepal's status as a partly-sovereign country and reveals India's overwhelming role. It examines the angst of having to prove one's loyalties to one's own country and exposes the Hindu hill upper-caste dominated power structures. Battles of the New Republic is a story of the deepening of democracy, of the death of a dream, and of that fundamental political dilemma - who exercises power, to what end, and for whose benefit.