000 01301cam a2200169 i 4500
001 18800781
010 _a 2015361771
020 _a9788184006964
082 _a954.167
_bDUF/S
100 1 _aDuff,Andrew
245 1 0 _aSikkim :requiem for a Himalayan kingdom
260 _aGurgaon
_bRandom house Publishers
_c2015
300 _axi, 380p.
_billustrations (some color)
520 _aSikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom tells the remarkable story of Thondup, the handsome last king of Sikkim, and his young and beautiful American queen, Hope Cooke, as they seek support for Sikkim’s independence after their wedding in 1963. Soon, rumours circulate that Hope was a CIA spy. Meanwhile, a shadowy Scottish adventuress, the Kazini of Chakung, married to Sikkim’s leading political figure, coordinates opposition to the Palace. As the geopolitical tectonic plates of the Himalayas grind together, Sikkim doesn’t stand a chance. Thondup dies a broken man in 1982; Hope returns to New York; Sikkim begins a new phase as India’s twenty-second state. Based on exclusive interviews and new archival research, this is a thrilling, romantic and informative glimpse of life in a lost paradise.
650 _aIndia--Sikkim
_aDiplomatic relations
_aPolitics and government
_aKings and rulers
942 _cBK
999 _c61505
_d61505