Himalaya: A Human History runs from early history through the 21st century, but much of it is centered on the eras of the British East India Company and the subsequent Imperial Raj. While Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan were never a formal part of the Raj (nor was Sikkim, though Sikkim has since been absorbed into post-colonial India), there were major interactions between these mountain kingdoms and India, both pre-British and during the British era; and some lowland border areas such as Darjeeling (as its name indicates, a major center of tea production) were actually a part of the Raj.

There's also substantial discussion of the relations between the Himalayan regions and China, including some discussion of colonial/imperialist Britain's opium wars as well as present-day Sino-Tibetan relations and the effects on both Nepal and India.

An excellent book, and one that's so rich and complex as to require a reread. The reason I've given it four rather than five stars is because of the absence of any footnotes or endnotes. There's an extensive bibliography, but it's unannotated and thus of minimal value. There are many issues where annotated authorities would be helpful, because you won't get such support from the laundry-list bibliography. I'd especially like to have had supporting references to the CIA's activities in Tibet. ( )

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