"Why has the valley of Kashmir, famed for its beauty, become, in the words of former President Bill Clinton, the 'most dangerous place on earth'? Why does the Kashmiri insurgency, waged since the late 1980s, continue to threaten the integrity of the Indian union? How can India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, resolve their longstanding differences over the former princely state so that the peoples of South Asia can live in peace? Victoria Schofield's updated revision of the highly acclaimed, Kashmir in Conflict, examines the history of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the period when the valley was an ancient independent kingdom to the most recent and potentially disastrous confrontation between India and Pakistan. Strategically situated on the borders of China, central and south Asia, Kashmir has once again confirmed its status as a likely battleground between the world's latest and most belligerent nuclear powers. " "Drawing upon extensive research in both countries, Victoria Schofield traces the origins of the princely state in the nineteenth century and the controversial 'sale' by the British of the predominantly Muslim valley to a Hindu Maharaja in 1846. Assessing the implications for Kashmir of independence in 1947, she analyses the issues, which divide India and Pakistan as they confront each other 'eyeball to eyeball' in a seemingly unending war. "--Jacket.