NIGHTMARCH
Winner of the 2020 Association for Political and Legal Anthropology Book Prize in Critical Anthropology
Finalist Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2019,
Finalist New India Foundation Book Prize 2019,
Longlisted for the Tata Literature Live Non-Fiction Award 2019
A 2018 Book of the Year for the New Statesman, History Workshop and Scroll India; a Hindu Year in Review book; a Hong Kong Free Press Best Human Rights Book for Sept-Oct 2018; a Public Anthropologist ‘Must Read’
Order: UK/Europe (Hurst) | US/Canada (Chicago)| India (HarperCollins)
ABOUT
In one of the world’s most intractable and under-reported rebellions, the Naxalites have been engaged in a decades-long battle with the Indian state. Presented in the media as a deadly terrorist group, the movement is made up of Marxist ideologues and lower-caste and tribal combatants who seek to overthrow a system that has abused them.
In 2010, anthropologist Alpa Shah embarked on a seven-night trek with some of these communist guerrillas, walking 250 kilometres through the dense, hilly forests of eastern India. Speaking to leaders and living for years with villagers in guerrilla strongholds, Shah seeks to understand why some of India’s poor have shunned the world’s largest democracy and taken up arms to fight for a fairer society—and asks whether they might be undermining their own aims.
To learn more, listen to the Novara FM podcast in which James Butler talks to Alpa Shah about the inner world of the Naxalites guerrillas, the repression of intellectuals, journalists and students in India and what can be done.
REVIEWS
‘An exceptional undertaking ... one of the most nuanced, informed accounts yet of a strange and awful conflict.’ Julia Lovell, The Guardian
‘A careful, rich, sympathetic account of the Maoist insurgency in India ... a brave and necessary work.’ Neel Mukherjee, The New Statesman’s list of best books of 2018.
'Subtle and moving ... It combines powerful first-hand description – as gripping as any novel – with analysis which understands the rebel’s motivations and backgrounds without ever falling into simplistic political binaries.’ Yasmin Khan, History Workshop’s Radical Books of 2018.
‘One of the best books I’ve ever read on insurgencies. The anthropological view of the Naxalites gives a whole new perspective to rebel groups and what drives them.’ Johny Mooney, Investigative Journalist with the Sunday Times.
‘A powerful, emotional and painstakingly detailed analysis . . . a rare insight. . . the book is engrossing and its characters will haunt you…a very nuanced study that seeks to understand and point towards solutions to one of India’s most intractable conflicts.' Vidya Ram, The Hindu
‘An astonishing journey. A rare, granular portrait.’ Amrita Dutta, The Indian Express
‘Vividly evocative, weaving descriptions of the journey with five character-portraits, to some extent archetypes, that help to illuminate Shah’s thoughtful and nuanced discussion of the uprising’s social and cultural background...a powerful synthesis, warm but never uncritical, a distillation of her own scholarship and the experiences of her subjects, that immerses the reader in a lifeworld. ’ Kheya Bag, New Left Review
INTERVIEWS
An Afterwords podcast. Sonia Faleiro talks to Alpa Shah about Nightmarch.
A TrueAnon podcast. Brace Belden speak to Alpa Shah about Nightmarch.
The Political Quarterly interviews Alpa Shah about the writing of Nightmarch.
‘We really need Orwell’s spirit of fighting back, and to keep alive the idea of a more equal and just world.’
The LSE hosts a discussion between Alpa Shah on Nightmarch and author Neel Mukherjee on A State of Freedom.
The Patriot interviews Alpa Shah on writing narrative non-fiction as an academic.
‘I had to try to reach as wide an audience as I could, but without simplifying the analysis or dumbing down my scholarship.’
BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed Alpa Shah discusses ‘The changing face of Maoism’ with Laurie Taylor, Professor Julia Lovell, and Professor Dennis Tourish
EXCERPTS
‘“Sleepwalking” with India’s Maoist guerrillas.’ BBC News
‘As India’s police conjure up the specter of urban Maoist terror, the real insurgency remains deep in the jungle.’ Foreign Policy
‘The “city” in the middle of a forest.’ The News Minute
‘I asked Gyanji if I could return to Lalgaon with him in the platoon. I wanted to experience what it was like to be continually “on the move”.’ Scroll
RELATED MEDIA
BBC Radio 4 Crossing Continents. Alpa Shah presents a 30 minute radio documentary on India's Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgents. Also broadcast on BBC World Service ‘Assignments Series’, 2010.
BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent. Alpa Shah reports on Adivasis driven out by anti-Maoist militia re-building their lives in the forests of Central India. Also broadcast on BBC World Service, 2015.
BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent. Alpa Shah reports on life within India's Maoist guerrilla platoons. Also broadcast on BBC World Service, 2010