published October 2004 (Pluto Press & Insight Press)
available in both paperback and hardback
£ 14.99 / US$ 22.95 (paperback)
280pp / 32 photos / DEMY (215x135mm)
ISBN: 0745323405

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READ the new Introduction to:

Nepali Samargaatha
Maowadi Janyuddha ka Aankhon Dekha Vivaran
The Hindi Edition of Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal
(Published by Pluto Press, London)
Translated by Anand Swaroop Verma and published by Samkaleen Teesari Duniya

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A Maoist revolution has been raging in Nepal since 1996. In 1999, Li Onesto became the first foreign journalist to travel deep into the guerrilla zones.Allowed unprecedented access, she interviewed political leaders, guerrilla fighters, villagers in areas under Maoist control, and relatives of those killed by government forces.

This book is the result of her journey. Illustrated with photographs, it provides an invaluable analysis of the social and economic conditions that have fuelled the revolution and profiles some of the key people involved.

Millions in Nepal now live in areas under guerrilla control. Peasants are running grass-roots institutions, exercising what they call 'people's power'. Li Onesto describes these transformations -- the establishment of new governing committees and courts, the confiscation and re-division of land, new cultural and social practices, and the emergence of a new outlook.

Increasingly, the UK and US have directly intervened to provide political and military support to the counter-insurgency efforts of the Nepalese regime. Onesto analyzes this in the context of the broader international situation and the 'war on terrorism'.

Contents
Acknowledgements / Map
Preface:1996-2004: Eight Years of People's War in Nepal
Introduction
Chapter 1 Meeting the People's Army
Chapter 2 Villages of Resistance
Chapter 3 The Raid on Bethan
Chapter 4 Rifles and a Vision
Chapter 5 Revolutionary Work in the City
Chapter 6 General Strike in Kathmandu
Carrying the Story Forward: The Problem of Disinformation
Chapter 7 Land in the Middle
Chapter 8 Hope of the Hopeless in Gorkha
Chapter 9 Preparing the Ground in the West
Chapter 10 Learning Warfare by Waging Warfare in the West
Carrying the Story Forward: Revolutionary Policies
Chapter 11 People's Power in Rolpa
Chapter 12 Guns, Drums, and Keyboards
Chapter 13 Teachers in a School of War
Carrying the Story Forward: Children in the War Zone
Chapter 14 Martyrs of Rolpa
Chapter 15 Families of Martyrs: Turning Grief into Strength
Carrying the Story Forward: The Rising Death Toll
Chapter 16 Women Warriors
Chapter 17 New Women, New People's Power
Carrying the Story Forward: The Fight for Women Leaders
Chapter 18 Magar Liberation
Chapter 19 Preparing for War in Rukum
Chapter 20 Starting and Sustaining People's War in Rukum
Chapter 21 Camping with the People's Army
Chapter 22 Red Salute in the West
Notes
References
Index