P. Rice
9/04/05
Collector Notes for the Easton Press edition of
Spies in the Himalayasby M.S. Kohli and Kenneth Conboy
The planet earth is grandly decorated with monumental designs. The loftiest of these geographic marvels are the Himalayas, a mountain range separating the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia. Covering a total area of 612,021 square kilometers, the magnificent chain passes through the Indian States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and the Himalayan Kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. The Tibetan Plateau forms the northern boundary. Beyond these enormous peaks stretches the vast political territory of communist China. During the Cold War that dominated geopolitics in the wake of World War II, these mountains offered a vantage point that could not be ignored.
The United States and India were both greatly alarmed in 1964 by the news that the Chinese had detonated their first nuclear test. The Central Intelligence Agency was desperate to enact effective surveillance on China to monitor further developments, but the remoteness of the Chinese testing grounds created enormous difficulties. Satellite observation was still years away, and conventional spy techniques were nullified by the extreme geographical parameters within which the Chinese maneuvered. The solution was a joint American-Indian intelligence operation that sought to listen in to Chinese missile launches and other military activities. The plan necessitated the placing of a nuclear-powered sensing device on a Himalayan mountain peak—a job that required a specialist capable of traversing the hazardous terrain. Only a handful of mountain climbers in the world possessed the necessary skills. India’s Mohan Singh Kohli, the celebrated conqueror of Everest, was solicited to undertake the mission, and he accepted the challenge.
Spies in the Himalayas is a vivid chronicle of the intelligence expeditions Kohli led to scale Nanda Devi, which at 25,635 feet is the highest peak in India, and its satellite Nanda Kot (22,510 feet). As would be expected, Kohli and his colleagues faced extraordinary circumstances that plagued the process throughout the remarkable adventure. The storyline of Spies in the Himalayas focuses a great deal on the elements encountered at 23,000 feet above sea level. At that height even basic human functions like breathing and walking can be life-threatening challenges. Encumbering the climbers with anything non-essential to human survival is certain to initiate potentially insurmountable complications, and yet the participants met with some measure of success despite the enormous obstacles. The first mission failed in the face of too many mishaps compounded by horrific weather; the second mission went better despite the loss of the nuclear generator.
The rumors that circulated among climbers and mountaineers were all that was publicly known of the operation until 1978 when the story first broke among journalists, and Spies in the Himalayas is the only complete public document of the now-legendary American-Indian operation. The narrative, presented in the third person, is a mountaineering adventure story with Cold War consequences. Important details of the top-secret venture are provided, and the text is complemented by an excellent array of photographs and maps. This is an excellent study of international espionage undertaken at a time when the fragile political face of a nuclear-armed world kept the military leaders on constant alert and accurate military intelligence was more essential than ever to survival.
M. S. Kohli’s qualifications to lead the expedition—and to write the book detailing the adventure—are impeccable. As a mountaineer, he has fourteen major expeditions to his credit. In 1962, Kohli and two other climbers survived six consecutive days above 26,000 feet in the death zone of Everest, including an incredible 60 hours between 27,650 and 28,650 feet in blizzard conditions with virtually no oxygen. He captained the historic Indian Everest expedition in 1965, just prior to the events described in Spies in the Himalayas, in which nine men reached the summit. In 1989, in consultation with the celebrated Sir Edmund Hillary and other notable mountain-climbing legends, Kohli founded the Himalayan Environment Trust to save the Himalayas for future generations. His storied career also includes stints in the Indian Navy, the ITB Police, and Air-India. A prolific writer, Kohli is the author of numerous books, including Nine Atop Everest, The Himalayas: Playground of the Gods, and Summit to Summit.
Co-author Kenneth Conboy, a former policy analyst and deputy director at the Heritage Foundation, is Country Manager for Risk Management Advisory, a private security consultancy in Jakarta. An internationally recognized expert on the subject of Asian military history and intelligence operations, Conboy’s books include The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet, Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam, and INTEL: Inside Indonesia’s Intelligence Service.
This Easton Press edition of Spies in the Himalayas by M. S. Kohli and Kenneth Conboy features genuine leather binding adorned with gold stamping on the cover with accents of 22-kt gold on the traditional “hubbed” spine. The archival-quality paper has been milled especially for this edition, and the book boasts gold gilt on all three edges plus a satin ribbon page marker. This truly unique volume is designed to last for generations as a permanent addition to your Leather-Bound Library of Military History.