Abstract

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.

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'.
'Invaluable background to the world's most vigorous Maoist movement, and insight into the theory and practice underlying contemporary Maoism elsewhere in South Asia and globally'
Gary Leupp, professor of history at Tufts University and Coordinator of the Asian Studies Program
'Probably the best, if not only, account of how the Maoists built their organisation and movement, and of how they operate and govern'
Stephen Mikesell, author of Class, State and Struggle in Nepal: Writings 1989-1995
'This is a lively, exciting and enlightening presentation of the true portrait of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal'
Padma Ratna Tuladhar, independent left leader, senior human rights leader and one of the facilitators in the peace talks between His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)