CATEGORY

n June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal donned military fatigues, armed himself with automatic weapons, walked in on a quiet family gathering, and, without a word, mowed his family down before turning a gun on himself. Dipendra's apparent motive was his family's opposition to his marrying a woman of whom they did not approve. Amy Willesee and Mark Whittaker set out to understand what could have led to a tragedy that fascinated and appalled the entire world. They conducted interviews with everyone from Maoist guerrillas to members and friends of the royal family for this book, revealing a country struggling to bridge the gap between feudalism and modernity. Their portrait of Nepal culminates in a detailed and chilling reconstruction of the fatal day itself. Love and Death in Kathmandu is an enlightening and com-pel-ling picture of a place that is a world apart and a love triangle that ended in a bloodbath.