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Himalaya: A Human History
Himalaya: A Human History | Ed Douglas
5 posts
A magisterial history of the Himalaya: an epic story of peoples, cultures, and adventures among the worlds highest mountains. For centuries, the unique and astonishing geography of the Himalaya has attracted those in search of spiritual and literal elevation: pilgrims, adventurers, and mountaineers seeking to test themselves among the worlds most spectacular and challenging peaks. But far from being wild and barren, the Himalaya has been home to a diversity of indigenous and local cultures, a crucible of world religions, a crossroads for trade, and a meeting point and conflict zone for empires past and present. In this landmark work, nearly two decades in the making, Ed Douglas makes a thrilling case for the Himalayas importance in global history and offers a soaring account of life at the "roof of the world." Spanning millennia, from the earliest inhabitants to the present conflicts over Tibet and Everest, Himalaya explores history, culture, climate, geography, and politics. Douglas profiles the great kings of Kathmandu and Nepal; he describes the architects who built the towering white Stupas that distinguish Himalayan architecture; and he traces the flourishing evolution of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism that brought Himalayan spirituality to the world. He also depicts with great drama the story of how the East India Company grappled for dominance with Chinas emperors, how India fought Maos Communists, and how mass tourism and ecological transformation are obscuring the bloody legacy of the Cold War. Himalaya is history written on the grandest yet also the most human scaleencompassing geology and genetics, botany and art, and bursting with stories of courage and resourcefulness.
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Purpleness
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“for some reason…” Huh, wonder why they had that idea?

Suet624 🥴 11mo
AnnCrystal 😢 11mo
37 likes2 comments
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Purpleness
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Purpleness
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So, today I learned that
a. Mt. Everest was named for, but not by, George Everest.
b. George Everest was actually a proponent of learning the local name of mountains he surveyed, rather than coming up with new English names.
and c. He hated it when people pronounced his name Ever-est, rather than Eve-rest.

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Purpleness
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Purpleness
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“We instinctively think of mountains as eternal, but they‘re not. They are falling to bits and being remade like the rest of nature - like us.”