From Publishers Weekly
On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shot and killed his father, mother, brother, sister and five other members of the royal family, including himself. For most observers, the massacre was an unfathomable atrocity. But as Gregson shows in this labyrinthine analysis of Nepal's monarchy, the catastrophe was wholly in keeping with the family's bloody history. The Shah dynasty first consolidated power over Nepal in the late 1700s, and the succeeding generations saw courtly intrigues, exiles, executions and palace bloodbaths (including the 1846 Kot Massacre, in which over 30 aristocrats and extended royalty perished). More than one junior queen was forced to perform sati (ritual immolation) so that she could not provide an alternate line of heirs to the throne. The weight of this tortured ancestry, Gregson maintains, came fully to bear on Prince Dipendra. Prohibited from marrying the woman he loved, he became increasingly frustrated and infatuated with alcohol, hashish and guns; eventually he decided to destroy his "dysfunctional family" with a shotgun and an M-16. Gregson, a British journalist born and raised in Calcutta, knows his subject well. Unfortunately, many readers will find themselves lost in the first half of the book, which meticulously tracks 200 years of obscure dynastic politics. The concluding sections are more intelligible and dramatic, however, especially the massacre scene itself. Overall, this is a fine resource for anyone with a serious interest in a terrible royal tragedy. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In the early days of the Shah dynasty in Nepal, it was prophesied that the Shahs would rule for only ten generations. On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra shot his father (Nepal's 11th king), mother, siblings, and five other relatives before killing himself. Gregson (Kingdom Beyond the Clouds: Journeys in Search of the Himalayan Kings), an authority on Nepal, brings his insider knowledge and expertise to the question of how the family came to such a violent end. He traces the history of the Shah dynasty, from its first warlord king to its current uncertain future, and details the politics of a constitutional monarchy whose kings were revered as gods but effectively prohibited from ruling and the strange inheritance structure that led family members to murder each other regularly throughout history. The author also explores the political machinations that cost many royal family members their lives through the ages. This is an intriguing story, but, unfortunately, the text is dry and academic, even when covering such sensational ground. Best suited to academic collections on Nepalese history. Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
On the evening of June 1, 2001, during an intimate gathering of Nepal's royal family, Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire with automatic weapons inside Kathmandu's royal palace, killing his parents -- the king and queen -- his siblings, five other close relatives, and ultimately himself. It was the bloodiest, most complete massacre of any royal family ever recorded and the most horrifying event in the history of the Shah Dynasty, which had ruled Nepal over 10 generations. The Shah Dynasty continues to rule Nepal -- the Crown Prince's uncle now wears the king's plumed crown -- but Dipendra's violent act has put the tiny mountain nation into a precarious position, where ancient customs and traditions contend with steadily encroaching modernity and Maoist insurgents threaten full-blown civil war. What led privileged young man like Dipendra to an act of such senseless and terrible violence? Drawing on exclusive interviews with the late King Birenda and surviving members of the Shah family, and with unparalleled access to the royal palace, journalist Jonathan Gregson pulls back a veil of secrecy and intrigue to expose a family struggling to bridge the gulf between ancient family traditions and contemporary mores, between the mysteries of a feudal past and the dark pressures of the modern world. Chronicling both the blood-soaked history of Nepal's royal family and its explosive present, Massacre at the Palace offers a rare and comprehensive examination of the inner workings of a family apparently doomed from its beginning to tragedy and loss. Skillfully merging the epic turbulence of Nepal's past with an intimate knowledge of the current state of the court, Gregson offers a riveting account of the birth of the Kingdom of Nepal, and the role of its semi-divine monarchy, and what this means to ordinary Nepalese people. All of these, Gregson writes, had a direct bearing on what was to happen on that fateful night: a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions played out on a modern stage.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Nothing in Nepal's Earlier History compared to the massacre in Narayanhiti on June 1, but it was certainly not the first time there had been bloodshed within the palace. Internal strife and conspiracies were an all too familiar part of the Shah family's heritage. Indeed, if automatic weapons had existed in the nineteenth century, there were plenty of flash points at which bloodletting on a similar scale might well have occurred. To appreciate the profound loss to the Nepalese people, their sense of disbelief and denial, one has to go back in time. For in this mountain refuge of age-old traditions, the king is still revered in ways long forgotten elsewhere. Here the king is held to be a god, the father and protector of all his peoples. The killing of a king is not just regicide; it amounts to deicide as well." On the Evening of June 1, 2001, during an intimate gathering of Nepal's royal family, Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire with automatic weapons inside Kathmandu's royal palace, killing his parents -- the king and queen -- his siblings, five other close relatives, and ultimately himself. It was the bloodiest, most complete massacre of any royal family ever recorded and the most horrifying event in the history of the Shah Dynasty, which had ruled Nepal over 10 generations. The Shah Dynasty continues to rule Nepal -- the Crown Prince's uncle now wears the king's plumed crown -- but Dipendra's violent act has put the tiny mountain nation into a precarious position, where ancient customs and traditions contend with steadily encroaching modernity and Maoist insurgents threaten full-blown civil war.

What led a privileged young man like Dipendra to an act of such senseless and terrible violence? Drawing on exclusive interviews with the late King Birenda and surviving members of the Shah family, and with unparalleled access to the royal palace, journalist Jonathan Gregson pulls back a veil of secrecy and intrigue to expose a family struggling to bridge the gulf between ancient traditions and contemporary mores, between the mysteries of a feudal past and the dark pressures of the modern world. Chronicling both the blood-soaked history of Nepal's royal family and its explosive present, Massacre at the Palace offers a rare and comprehensive examination of the inner workings of a family apparently doomed from its beginning to tragedy and loss. Skillfully merging the epic turbulence of Nepal's past with an intimate knowledge of the current state of the court, Gregson offers a riveting account of the birth of the Kingdom of Nepal, and the role of its semidivine monarchy and what this means to ordinary Nepalese people. All of these, Gregson writes, had a direct bearing on what was to happen on that fateful night: a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions played out on a modern stage.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shot and killed his father, mother, brother, sister and five other members of the royal family, including himself. For most observers, the massacre was an unfathomable atrocity. But as Gregson shows in this labyrinthine analysis of Nepal's monarchy, the catastrophe was wholly in keeping with the family's bloody history. The Shah dynasty first consolidated power over Nepal in the late 1700s, and the succeeding generations saw courtly intrigues, exiles, executions and palace bloodbaths (including the 1846 Kot Massacre, in which over 30 aristocrats and extended royalty perished). More than one junior queen was forced to perform sati (ritual immolation) so that she could not provide an alternate line of heirs to the throne. The weight of this tortured ancestry, Gregson maintains, came fully to bear on Prince Dipendra. Prohibited from marrying the woman he loved, he became increasingly frustrated and infatuated with alcohol, hashish and guns; eventually he decided to destroy his "dysfunctional family" with a shotgun and an M-16. Gregson, a British journalist born and raised in Calcutta, knows his subject well. Unfortunately, many readers will find themselves lost in the first half of the book, which meticulously tracks 200 years of obscure dynastic politics. The concluding sections are more intelligible and dramatic, however, especially the massacre scene itself. Overall, this is a fine resource for anyone with a serious interest in a terrible royal tragedy. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In the early days of the Shah dynasty in Nepal, it was prophesied that the Shahs would rule for only ten generations. On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra shot his father (Nepal's 11th king), mother, siblings, and five other relatives before killing himself. Gregson (Kingdom Beyond the Clouds: Journeys in Search of the Himalayan Kings), an authority on Nepal, brings his insider knowledge and expertise to the question of how the family came to such a violent end. He traces the history of the Shah dynasty, from its first warlord king to its current uncertain future, and details the politics of a constitutional monarchy whose kings were revered as gods but effectively prohibited from ruling and the strange inheritance structure that led family members to murder each other regularly throughout history. The author also explores the political machinations that cost many royal family members their lives through the ages. This is an intriguing story, but, unfortunately, the text is dry and academic, even when covering such sensational ground. Best suited to academic collections on Nepalese history. Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews