Books on Khukries

Originally posted by John Powell
The Bharat site is a strange compendium of bits and pieces from many sources. It seems strangely unfulfilling especially after the long download. I have many of these pictures in the books we've discussed.
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I think it's a subsection of a site devoted to the Indus Valley civilisation, specifically the argument that Indian civilisation is native to India rather than the 'Aryan-invasion-theory'. So I think it has something to do with arguing that the artefacts from the Indus valley are like the artefacts from later India.

It doesn't take too long on a direct connexion to down-load and it's sort of nice to see some of these pictures, since I don't have all of the books ;).

B.
 
eng-gurk.JPG


a pretty interesting book I found--a sort of 'Teach Yourself English' for Gurkha soldiers. not meant for circulation outside of the Army. some of the dialogues in it are pretty amusing (the two main characters are Rane & Dhane):

pg. 91:
Rane, Dhane and many other soldiers went to ENGLAND. Why did they go? They went because the Queen had a big parade. The name of the parade was 'The Coronation Parade'....On the train Rane said to Dhane. "Where are we going? How many days will we stay (there)? How far is the camp? When will we reach it?" Dhane replied, "Don't ask me, because I don't know. Look outside--there are not any cows like that in our country. The cows here are fat. I expect they give a lot of milk." Rane said, "A cow which gives a lot of milk is very useful. Do the men here drink it or sell it?" Dhane said, "I don't know--I expect they drink half and sell half."
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pg. 208:
...[The Commander] said there were bandits. He had asked him how many there were. He had said there were ten of them. They had steathily started (to go) towards the camp. As they came near they had taken fire positions and fired. They had killed them all. (He said that) he had opened up on the wireless and had given the information. They had eventually got back to Camp. The officer said well done. He asked them why the bandits had not run away after they had opened fire. The Commander thought. He said that maybe they had seen them but had thought they were jungle pigs.
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I don't quite get this last bit....do jungle pigs in Malayasia tend to carry automatic rifles? :eek: ;)

updated the book page: http://www.cog.jhu.edu/~slade/gurkbook.html

cheers all, B.
 
up at eBay:

THE HAPPY WARRIORS. Brigadier A.E.C. BREDIN

hapwar.jpg


1961 1st edition. About the Gurkha Soldier in Malaya between 1948 and 1958. Great pictures and a very interesting read. A very scarce book. Book is in very good condition with good dust jacket. Couple of tears on dust jacket. Inscription in ink inside by previous owner. 356 pages. Measures 22cm x 14.5cm. Published by The Blackmore Press
 
I'll have to pass this info on to our Scottish Highlander who was there during the same time frame. But, he's probably read the book long ago.
 
Originally posted by John Powell
Tried these guys [VedamsBooks]once on another book and the order never got completed although it was 'confirmed'. Good news is my credit card didn't get charged both times I got their confirmations.

I hope you are successful.
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Yes, I was. Got my order of the Egerton & some other books yesterday too.

I just wanted to let people know that the Asian Education Services (Delhi-Madras, 2001) fascimile edition of Egerton's 1896 book on Indian & Oriental [Arms &] Armour is beautiful! Nice hard-cover binding; crisp printing (Indian printing varies all the way being as good as any high-end, modern European-US quality to looking like it was printed on Guttenberg's converted-apple press by an inexperienced, cross-eyed apprentice); all of the original colour-plates are reproduced in brilliant colour; and all of the fold-out pages do indeed fold-out. It is my understanding that the previous US reprinting of Egerton is a poorly-printed, all black & white edition with all of the fold-out pages resized to 'match' the rest of the pages.

In any case, I'm just writing to say this is a beautiful reprinting of the book. I'm guessing it looks almost as nice as the original; and even if you have an original, if it's something you use a lot, you could always use a durable 'reading' copy.

In any case, just to restate it, VedamsBooks in Delhi carries this book for US$60 (including airmail postage&packing, i.e. their prices are like HI's, all-inclusive):

A Description of Indian and Oriental Armour : Illustrated from the Collection Formerly in the India Office Now Exhibited at South Kensington and The Author’s Private Collection: With An Introductory Sketch of the Military History of India/Egerton of Tatton. Reprint of first edition. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 2001

@ VedamsBooks

B.
 
I highly recommend this book for those interested in 'Oriental Arms'. The new reprint sounds like technology has made it better (and a lot less fragile) than the original.
 
Ben what's the physical size of this book? I'm wondering if it's like a coffee table book or smaller, say 8" x 10"?
Small print also is a killer for me.
Are the fold out pages of reasonable thickness to help prevent tearing?
Is it a slick paper or other?

Many thanks.:)
 
Originally posted by Yvsa
Ben what's the physical size of this book? I'm wondering if it's like a coffee table book or smaller, say 8" x 10"?
Small print also is a killer for me.
Are the fold out pages of reasonable thickness to help prevent tearing?
Is it a slick paper or other?

Many thanks.:)
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The book is roughly 8.5" x 11.25".

The primary fount is what I'd estimate to be a 14pt Standard Roman typeface. The description text is probably in a 11pt Roman. Footnote text is probably 9pt or thereabouts.

The entire book is printed on very high-quality thick-stock paper. To give you an idea--the overall thickness of the book (NOT including the cover) is 1/2inch--for 178 pages.

Most of the pages are 'non-glossy'. The colour illustration in the front; the fold-out colour map of India and the black & white photographic plates are 'slick'. The only glossy-fold-out is the map. The other fold-outs are lines-drawings and on the same type of paper as the rest of the book.

Very good binding on the book too--again, unlike many Indian pressing (my hardback Sanskrit dictionary started falling apart within months of my getting it). And as I said, the printing itself is very crisp. AES does very nice books (I have an Asoka book by them too) - probably because they're expensive (compared to normal Indian prices). It's even 'gold-gilt' on the cover and spine and all three edges of the pages (though I suspect it's faux-gold--a bit too yellow).

hope this helps, cheers, B.
 
JP,
You need to get back to work on your book!!I'm expecting to read a post on this forum that it's finished & will be out next year!!I want "MY" copy signed!
jim
 
Originally posted by jim_l_clifton
JP,
You need to get back to work on your book!!I'm expecting to read a post on this forum that it's finished & will be out next year!!I want "MY" copy signed!
jim
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Isn't the expected completion date 2010 or something? :( :eek: ;)
 
beoram,
Yeah bro, something like that BUT I think he's faking it!Jp is so smart, it's prob. been completed 6 mo. ago But being the profectionist HE is,probably some minor detail is holding it back!
jim
 
Don't kid yourself. John has set himself up for a monumental task and to be absolutely honest if he EVER completes the book I'll be pleasantly surprised and will offer a hearty hats off and three cheers. People have been asking me to write such a book for a dozen years and knowing the amount of work involved I've just shrugged it off.
 
One book nobody's mentioned yet is "The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck" by Rory Nugent. It's about the author's travels to confirm reported sightings about this species, assumed to be extinct. One chapter is devoted to the author's time among a Gurkha separatist movement around Darjeeling, and the photo section even shows a rally with abundant khukuri brandishing.

It's a really nice book if you like nature writing, and the ethnographic notes add to its interest.
 
"Isn't the expected completion date 2010 or something?"

Your dyslexia must be acting up. The date would be 2110.

YVSA, the original Egerton is 7.5 X 10.5". I'm sure it was reprinted in a more standard size for cost and clarity. This reprint sounds like a winner. Get it.
 
It is a very long, difficult, time-consuming task which will go generally thankless and with little or no reward of any kind, including monetary -- not that John is concerned about that part of the deal.
 
Originally posted by John Powell
"Isn't the expected completion date 2010 or something?"

Your dyslexia must be acting up. The date would be 2110.
Click to expand...

;)


Originally posted by John Powell
YVSA, the original Egerton is 7.5 X 10.5". I'm sure it was reprinted in a more standard size for cost and clarity. This reprint sounds like a winner. Get it.
Click to expand...

Just printed 2001 - no telling how many copies they printed or whether it will be reprinted again. A fantastic 'fascimile' edition - and one that's likely to be hard to find probably even a couple of years from now, unless they reprint. Now's probably a good time to buy...

B.
 
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