Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the greatest city of the Himalayas. Closed to the outside world until 1951 and trapped in a medieval time warp, Kathmandu's rapid modernization is an extreme version of what is happening elsewhere in many traditional societies.

The many layers of the city's development are reflected in the successive generations of its gods and goddesses, witches and ghosts, the comforts of caste, the ethos of aristocracy and kingship and, of late, the destabilizing spirits of consumer aspiration, individuality, egalitarianism, communism and democracy. 

Kathmandu follows the author's story over a decade in the city and unravels the city's history through successive reinventions of itself. Erudite, entertaining and accessible, this is the distinctive chronicle of a fascinating place.