FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"THE SECOND HIGHEST WORLD WAR: THE RAMA THEATER"
by Anoop Chandola

Tucson, AZ/EWORLDWIRE/May 1, 2002 --- iUniverse Inc. and Barnes & Noble with their press, Authors Choice Press, have announced the publication of THE SECOND HIGHEST WORLD WAR: THE RAMA THEATER (ISBN # 0-595-22229-3, Paperback, 252 pages, $ 14.95). This historical novel is an untold dramatic backside story of World War II from a remote spectacular Himalayan region of India that changed the course of history. In this action-filled provocative story, some questions find very controversial answers. Why is it that the face of WWII has appeared in print or film so often, but very seldom the back, the larger part? Could Hitler's rise and fall be seen in India? Isn't South Asia the source of the Aryan supremacist movement and current international religious terrorism?

A historian interested in India's role in WWII unexpectedly gets a manuscript from a WWII colonel. Chander, the colonel's U.S.-educated journalist son, wrote the manuscript at the request of his American wife, Kristi. It remains unpublished for decades due to the couple's accidental death. It reveals that young Chander lived with his mother in his Himalayan village, while his father was fighting WWII. Chander recounts intriguing experiences of local WWII soldiers and civilians during the period of 1941 to 1948. His experiences, humorous to terroristic, are juxtaposed with the Rama Lila, the most popular Ramayana play staged every year in October. The play is about prince Rama who kills the demon terrorist Ravana. The novel contains the first full translation of this play. It can be staged and filmed like the Broadway play of the Mahabharata by Peter Brook.

Dr. Stanley Wolpert, Professor of History at UCLA and author of the Hollywood movie novel "Nine Hours to Rama," writes "Professor Anoop Chandola's THE SECOND HIGHEST WORLD WAR is a fine work of fiction...Anoop is a brilliant writer and understands India as few others do...His compelling work is at once deeply true and yet wonderfully imaginative raising his story to the highest level of fictive art." Ret. Lt. General K.S. Garewal, PVSM, from India writes "...The mind-blowing story of this novel clears up a lot of smoke to reveal how the heroism of unheralded soldiers from a remote Himalayan region turned the war around in favor of the Allies. Professor Chandola removes the curtain to expose the reader to a long hidden view of the role played by India as told through the dramatic memoirs of the young son of a WWII front-line officer from the Indian Himalayas."

An Excerpt
"How did we accept this four-division system?"
"That's an ancient custom. But it has become the reason for the war we fought in Europe."
"You mean Hitler?"
"Yes, Hitler. He knew that Aryans were white people. In India, they discriminated against black people, the Shudras.The whites became the priests, warriors, and merchants. Shudras deserved to remain servants. Hitler had the same agenda. All others should serve the whites or be eliminated. So Jews and Gypsies became his victims." Uncle sighed.
"Uncle, do you believe in the caste system?"
"We have to break it if we don't want a further breakup of India, son!" He went beyond my question as he added, "Religions are like mosquitoes that sing sweetly and suck out humanity or inject mass fatal hate."

About the Author 
Anoop Chandola, born in India, is a professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. His degrees in linguistics include an M.A. from the University of California (Berkeley) and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is the author of 10 books including a novel, Discovering Brides.

For interviews contact Anoop Chandola by e-mail: chandola@u.arizona.edu or phone 520-742-4059.

"The Second Highest World War" is available from www.iUniverse.com and Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com).

CONTACT:
Anoop Chandola
PHONE: 520-742-4059
EMAIL: chandola@u.arizona.edu

Keywords: Arizona, Asia, Chicago, California, book, Hitler, iUniverse, Barnes & Noble, WWII, war