Nepal, 1767. The tiny kingdom of Gorkha is on the ascendant under its ruler Prithvi Narayan Shah. Over the next few decades, his Gorkhali army establishes a mighty kingdom, the borders of which extend from Kangra in the west to the Teesta river in the east. The territory encompasses a large part of present-day Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and almost all of present-day Nepal and Sikkim. When they are eventually reined in by the mighty British army in 1815, it sparks off a new engagement between the imperial power and Nepal. Impressed by the fighting abilities on display, the British army begins recruiting them. The Gurkhas (the prevalent spelling today) go on to serve with distinction in many theatres of war over the next hundred-odd years, their exploits in World War I and II earning them a number of bravery medals. With Indian independence in 1947 comes further change: the Gurkhas are now split across three armies: the British, Indian and the Nepalese. Ayo Gorkhali by Tim I. Gurung, a former British Gurkha, is the first work of history by a member of the community and brings alive the story of a people who have served flags other than their own with honour, even as they have attempted to keep their native warrior traditions alive in letter and spirit. The history of the Gurkha serviceman is one that goes beyond soldiering and bravery-it is in equal measure a story of the resilient human spirit, and of a tiny community that carved for itself a niche in world history.

The history of the Gurkha serviceman is one that goes beyond soldiering and bravery-it is in equal measure a story of the resilient human spirit, and of a tiny community that carved for itself a niche in world history.

New York Times Bestseller: This in-depth account of Charles Sobhraj, the serial killer portrayed in Netflix miniseries The Serpent, is “compulsive reading” (The Plain Dealer). There was no pattern to the murders, no common thread other than the fact that the victims were all vacationers, robbed of their possessions and slain in seemingly random crimes. Authorities across three continents and a dozen nations had no idea they were all looking for same man: Charles Sobhraj, aka “The Serpent.” A handsome Frenchman of Vietnamese and Indian origin, Sobhraj targeted backpackers on the “hippie trail” between Europe and South Asia. A master of deception, he used his powerful intellect and considerable sex appeal to lure naïve travelers into a life of crime. When they threatened to turn on him, Sobhraj murdered his acolytes in cold blood. Between late 1975 and early 1976, a dozen corpses were found everywhere from the boulevards of Paris to the slopes of the Himalayas to the back alleys of Bangkok and Hong Kong. Some police experts believe the true number of Sobhraj’s victims may be more than twice that amount. Serpentine is the “grotesque, baffling, and hypnotic” true story of one of the most bizarre killing sprees in modern history (San Francisco Chronicle). Edgar Award–winning author Thomas Thompson’s mesmerizing portrait of a notorious sociopath and his helpless prey “unravels like fiction, but afterwards haunts the reader like the document it is” (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland).

"Ayo Gorkhali!" - "The Gurkhas are upon you!" - is the battle cry of one of the world's most famous fighting forces. Yet the Gurkha story is not only about bravery in combat. It is also a story of tragedy.In WWI, 200,000 Gurkhas out of Nepal's five million people participated in the British cause. A further 250,000 Gurkhas fought in WWII. This book tells the Gurkhas' story from the beginning to the present day.

This invaluable, well-illustrated book presents a carefully crafted, step-by-step programme which teaches the complete novice air pistol shooter how to attain a high level of marksmanship. The training begins with a detailed consideration of safety procedures, basic pistol craft, range construction and the types of air pistol that are available (spring-powered, pneumatic and CO2) and how they work. The author then moves on to consider holsters, targets, and the advanced skills associated with trigger control, the hold, presentation, the stance, the fast draw and rapid fire shooting. Finally, detailed attention is paid to markmanship exercises but the author emphasizes that these should only be undertaken after all of the techniques set out in the previous chapters have been mastered.Whether you are a novice or more experienced, if you are interested in the fast growing pastime of air pistol shooting for pleasure, then this is the book for you. Covers the mastering of basic pistol craft to the very advanced skills such as fast draw and rapid fire shooting, and is superbly illustrated with colour photographs.

A number one bestseller in India and a shortlisted nomination for the Dylan Thomas Prize, The Gurkha's Daughter is a distinctive debut from a rising star in South Asian literature. This collection of stories captures the textures and sounds of the Nepalese diaspora through eight intimate, nuanced portraits, taking us from the hillside city of Darjeeling, India to a tucked away Nepalese restaurant in New York City. The daily struggles of Parajuly's characters reveal histories of war, colonial occupation, religious division, systemized oppression, and dispossession in the diverse geographical intersection of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and China. In a cruel remark by a wealthy doctor to her tenant shopkeeper, we hear the persistent injustice of the caste system; in the contentious relationship between a wealthy widow and her sister-in-law, we glimpse the restricted lives and submissive social roles of Nepalese women; and in a daughter's relationship with her father, we find a dissonance between modernity and tradition that has echoed through the generations in unexpected ways. Across different ethnicities, religions, and other social distinctions, the characters in these share a universal yearning, not just for survival but for a better life; one with love, dignity, and community. In The Gurkha's Daughter, Parajuly reveals the small acts of bravery--the sustaining, driving hope--that bind together the human experience.

The author has travelled in Nepal and met many Gurkhas to investigate the background to their traditional service to Britain and the threat that this is now under. He recounts famous battles when they collected VC's and earned admiration.