The Gurkhas - Special Force

Bellamy, Chris (2011) The Gurkhas - Special Force. John Murray / Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK. ISBN 978-1-84854-342-3 (hbk) 978-1-84854-344-7 (pbk)

Abstract

[Description from University of Greenwich News to announce publication]
The Gurkhas have fought on behalf of Britain and India for nearly 200 years. They have taken part in the two world wars, the Falklands conflict and British operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Iraq. Professor Bellamy says: "As brave as they are resilient, resourceful and cunning, they have earned a reputation as devastating fighters, and their unswerving loyalty to the Crown has always inspired affection in the British people."There are also up to 40,000 Gurkhas serving with the million - strong army of modern India.

Chris Bellamy uncovers the Gurkhas' origins in the hills of Nepal, the extraordinary circumstances in which the British decided to recruit them nearly 200 years ago and their rapid emergence as elite troops of the East India Company, the British Raj and the British Empire.

Professor Bellamy says: "But who are the Gurkhas? How much of the myth that surrounds them is true? Their special aptitudes - fitness, skill-at-arms and instinct for terrain, meant they were used as the first British "Special Forces".

Chris Bellamy looks at their status now, when each year 11,000 hopefuls apply for just over 170 places in the British Army Gurkhas. The book brings the history of the Gurkhas, and the battles they have fought, right up to date, and explores their future.

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