ABOUT THIS BOOK
Kingdom Lost is a sequel to Singha Durbar released in 2017. The urge and rationale for a book on
the Rana regime arose on the belief that such a work, coming from one with ancestral links with
the Rana family and political links with the democratic forces and Nepali Congress, will reflect an
objective and balanced view of those times. As the work, starting sometime in 2006, progressed, the
author was drawn into exploring the entire range of Nepali history, with a stress on the modern era.
Singha Durbar covers the period till the fall of the Rana regime in 1951, and this sequel starts off
then and ends in 2008. Kingdom Lost in particular relies heavily on one-on-one interviews with
key political and military leaders of the country. The author’s uninterrupted involvement in the
churning of political activities and extensive travels allows graphic depiction of the tumultuous
sequence of history.
AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
Sagar S.J.B. Rana was born in 1938 in Baber Mahal. His forefathers had been in the premier position
of governance since 1947 and until the fall of the regime in 1951. He was the first Nepali to attain
a bachelor’s degree (in Jurisprudence) from Oxford University in 1960. When he returned to Nepal
in 1963, political parties were banned and political leaders, including his two brothers, were either
imprisoned or exiled to India.
There was no space for political activities till mid-1970s when B.P Koirala returned from exile in
India proclaiming a new policy of National Reconciliation. The author joined the tumultuous political
arena and Nepali Congress thereafter.
Serving the party first as President of Lalitpur District, then as member of the Central Working
Committee and finally as Head of the Department of International relations including the critical
years 2003–06, Rana was actively involved in the movements for restoration of democracy as well as
confrontation with the Maoists and the process of their integration in the parliamentary mainstream.
The author is also the Founding President of the Handicraft Association of Nepal (1968) and the
first recipient (2016) of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Currently, he is the Acting President of
Nepal Art Council. He also excelled in tennis and was national champion in 1968–69.
