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2 books match the query 'Bell, Thomas'

cover of Human Nature: A Walking History of the Himalayan Landscape

Human Nature

A Walking History of the Himalayan Landscape

Thomas Bell

Haus Publishing, 2025

Combining travelogue, folklore, literature, art, and anthropology, this work explores the human and natural geography of the Himalayas and offers a nuanced portrait of life over the centuries in one of the world’s most enigmatic regions. 

In Human Nature, Thomas Bell embarks on four walks through the Himalayas, each in a different season, to explore the interplay between the land and the people who call it home. Bell’s decades in Nepal give him an unusual perspective that bridges the gap between insider and outsider. The stories he recounts touch on themes from religion to ecology and political economy, and span from prehistory to the present day. He also deftly examines the impact of British imperialism and the growing external pressures on the environment. Accompanied by Bell’s striking photographs and maps, Human Nature is a magnificently written account that spans big ideas and real lives. Erudite, intimate, and evocative, this is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the relationship between communities and their environments.

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cover of Kathmandu

Kathmandu

Thomas Bell

Haus Publishing, 2016

One of the greatest cities of the Himalaya, Kathmandu, Nepal, is a unique blend of thousand-year-old cultural practices and accelerated urban development. In this book, Thomas Bell recounts his experiences from his many years in the city—exploring in the process the rich history of Kathmandu and its many instances of self-reinvention.

Closed to the outside world until 1951 and trapped in a medieval time warp, Kathmandu is, as Bell argues, a jewel of the art world, a carnival of sexual license, a hotbed of communist revolution, a paradigm of failed democracy, a case study in bungled western intervention, and an environmental catastrophe. The layered development of the city can be seen in the successive generations of its gods and goddesses; its comfort in the caste system and ethos of aristocracy and kingship; and the recent destabilizing effects of consumerist approaches and the push for egalitarianism and democracy. In important ways, Kathmandu’s rapid modernization can be seen as an extreme version of what is happening in other traditional societies.  Bell also discusses the ramifications of the recent Nepal earthquake.

A comprehensive look at a top global destination, Kathmandu is an entertaining and accessible chronicle for anyone eager to learn more about this fascinating city.
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