Overview

This book, strictly speaking a historical novel but much closer to a true history than that term often implies, covers a seventy year period leading up to Anglo-Nepal war in 1814-16. Through the story of the legendary Bhakti Thapa, reconstructed from both folk memory and previously unknown written sources, it tells how the hill men of Nepal and the British in India originally developed a great respect for each other. This has resulted in a unique relationship between the Gurkhas and the British Army that has already lasted for nearly 200 years. After the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta incident on 21st June 1756, the East India Company was in such straits that it could have lost its potential superiority in India. 'Destiny can turn on a very small point' and for the English it turned on four. The first was because an obscure woman in the foothills of the Himalayas died in childbirth, the second because an equally obscure Frenchman in Lyons was caught in flagrante delicto committing incest, the third because hornets were accidentally annoyed by a chance shot from a matchlock, and lastly because an innocent man was blown from the muzzle of an English Gun. This story tells how these four unrelated, unusual and, except for the actual persons involved, insignificant episodes were responsible for India remaining British for the next 191 years. The historical bones of this story are strong and true, the flesh is as English historians have it, the blood as the Nepalese have it. The clothes are as seen by the author, who has known the hill men of Nepal for sixty years and knows how they would react to some situations yet to happen as they have already reacted to others that have happened. Chegu Dura, aka Bhakti Thapa, the main character of the story, has one foot in history and the other in legend. In Nepalese history there are some inexplicable anomalies about him and the version given here is as near as it can be to what collective 'grey-beard' memory tells us. The biographical details of all the other major characters are true.

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9781906302207

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Reviews

If you want to understand more about the extraordinary and enduring commitment made by the Gurkhas to Britain you must read this book. John Cross writes from his wide knowledge and deep compassion for these legendary soldiers, the hill men of Nepal whose bravery and good humour put them in a class of their own. I commend The Restless Quest unreservedly. Joanna Lumley

Author Information

J P Cross served in the British army for 39 years, all but one year in Asia and all but three years with the Gurkhas. After retiring from the army in 1982, he now lives permanently in Nepal with his surrogate family who, because of his very limited sight, are also his eyes. Consequently he has lived with the Nepalis virtually all his adult life, since 1944. He is the only foreign permanent resident in Nepal's history allowed to own land and a house. In the hills, people say he must have been a Nepali in a previous incarnation. A prolific author, a linguist and an expert on Nepalese history, he has been awarded both the MBE and OBE. Buddhiman Gurung, born Buddhiman Dura, the author's surrogate son and his 'eyes' for more than a quarter of a century, is a direct descendant of Bhakti Thapa, the book's main character.

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