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Dragon Fire (novel)
Encyclopedia
Dragon Fire is a 2000 novel
by BBC political and foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley
about a 2007 war
between China
, India
and Pakistan
, which draws in Australia
, Bhutan
, Myanmar
, Nepal
, New Zealand
, Tibet
, the United Kingdom
, and the United States
, and threatens to escalate to nuclear war
.
While a work of fiction, the novel attempts to raise awareness of real geopolitical issues in the region.
A SFF(Special Frontier Force) Major, Gendun Choedrak Assaults drapchi prison with paratroopers to free an Tibetan religious leaders who is being held and incarcerated there.
Far out west ,Pakistan launches an attack on strategic outpost of kargil, promptly raising the green crescent flag on indian soil. China accuses India of attacking chinese soil and wages war.
It's Pakistan and China vs India now, 3 nuclear powers.Nuclear arsenals are being mobolized.
Later Pakistan is devasted while India and China are threatening nuclear war.Russia says whoever invovles in this matter will have to face her first.The West's greatest nighmares and becoming true.
said that the novel was a "good read" and that "it is uncomfortably accurate about the dangers facing Asia".
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by BBC political and foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley
Humphrey Hawksley
-Education:Hawksley was educated at the Junior and Senior schools of St. Lawrence College, an independent school for boys , in the coastal seaside town of Ramsgate in Kent, in south east England.-Life and career:...
about a 2007 war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
between China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, which draws in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and threatens to escalate to nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
.
While a work of fiction, the novel attempts to raise awareness of real geopolitical issues in the region.
Plot introduction
The novel is set against a backdrop of several real-world sources of tension in South Asia, all of which the author had familiarised himself with through his journalistic work.Plot summary
This novel gives us nightmare scenarios where the world's worst fears begin on 1000 on 3rd May 2007.A SFF(Special Frontier Force) Major, Gendun Choedrak Assaults drapchi prison with paratroopers to free an Tibetan religious leaders who is being held and incarcerated there.
Far out west ,Pakistan launches an attack on strategic outpost of kargil, promptly raising the green crescent flag on indian soil. China accuses India of attacking chinese soil and wages war.
It's Pakistan and China vs India now, 3 nuclear powers.Nuclear arsenals are being mobolized.
Later Pakistan is devasted while India and China are threatening nuclear war.Russia says whoever invovles in this matter will have to face her first.The West's greatest nighmares and becoming true.
Major themes
Significant background themes include:- TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
- The Kashmiri conflict, and especially the Kargil WarKargil WarThe Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
- Chinese, IndianIndia and weapons of mass destructionIndia possesses nuclear weapons and maintains short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable aircraft, surface ships, and submarines under development as possible delivery systems and platforms...
and Pakistani nuclear weapons programsPakistan and weapons of mass destructionPakistan began focusing on nuclear weapons development in January 1972 under the leadership of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who delegated the program to the Chairman of PAEC Munir Ahmad Khan... - Relationships between Taiwan and ChinaCross-Strait relationsCross-Strait relations refers to the relations between People's Republic of China and the Republic of China , which lie to the west and east, repectively, of the Taiwan Strait in the west Pacific Ocean....
Critical reception
John Elliott of the New StatesmanNew Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
said that the novel was a "good read" and that "it is uncomfortably accurate about the dangers facing Asia".