Maps of Nepal. Harka Gurung. White Orchid Books, Bangkok, 1983. 100 pages, 28 color and black and white maps, many sketches and geological information.

The author has been engaged in large-and small-scale planning, not only in his native Nepal but for international organizations as well, and has published books and articles about the physical sciences, and the economy and politics of tourism in Nepal. He has collected twenty-eight maps, ranging from one by Kircher in 1666 to the 1981 Landsat map of Nepal, and has annotated them skillfully. There are brief chapters on the history of mapping in the Himalaya, panoramas, and fascinating summaries of geological and geomorphological studies, in addition to a short bibliography and a list of major peaks along Nepal’s northern boundary (which will doubtless intrigue climbers). Though the modem maps are too small in scale to be helpful to the traveller, the book is a must for anyone interested in the history of exploration, geopolitics, and mapping in Nepal, and by extension much of the Himalaya.

Like a number of similar unusual books, this one is available through Akio Horiuchi, Bookseller, A-102 2-12-23 Motomachi-kyose, Tokyo 204, Japan.

Charles S. Houston, M.D.