Our member Thomas Benedikter informed us that his book “Krieg im Himalaya – Hintergründe des Maoistenaufstandes in Nepal – Eine politische Landeskunde ” (War in the Himalayas – Background of the Maoist Rebellion in Nepal – A Political Country Study), first published in 2003, is now freely available in digital form. Large parts of the book are still up to date because it is primarily a Nepal’s political country study. The book has become quite well known in the German-speaking world and received good reviews (now no more available). Here the back-cover text of the book:

“DER MAOISTENAUFSTAND IN NEPAL – Eine politische Landeskunde Nepals“.

2002 was the bloodiest year in Nepal’s history since the war against the British in 1815/16. The country is in a state of emergency, and in the mid-west, the army is taking action against the Maoist People’s Liberation Army without regard for the civilian population. The Maoists army launches large-scale attacks on military bases from its base areas and takes its guerrillas into the cities. After seven years of “people’s war” with almost 7,500 victims, the dynamics of violence and retaliation take their seemingly unstoppable course, unnoticed by the public.

How did it come to this?  What do the Maoists want? What has led to this conflict? Thomas Benedikter visited various sites of the Maoist insurgency in 2002 and spent months researching in Kathmandu. He examines Nepal’s Maoist movement and its rebellion and sheds light on Nepal’s leading social and political aspects that form the background of this conflict. The richly illustrated work takes current events as its starting point. However, it is, above all, contemporary Nepal’s political geography and still a topical insight into Nepalese society and politics.