Product Description
Two leading thinkers argue against the Chinese occupation and the theocracy of Tibet.China’s decades-long repression of Tibetan independence continues on as its global economic power continues to grow. In response to the former and despite the latter, the independence movement persists, represented here through the voices of Wang Lixiong and Tsering Shakya. Born into the repressive one-party regime, both writers now seek for Tibetan cultural and political autonomy, and although each writer theorizes this goal differently, both are in agreement about what must now be done. The result is this milestone exchange.

While Wang suggests the complicity of a fear-stricken religion in perpetuating Chinese imperialist rule, Shakya interprets recent Tibetan history as a history of colonialism, against which the independence movement struggles for autonomous rule. These differing and sometimes opposing lines of thought finally climax in the present struggle for independence, ending upon a joint statement regarding Tibet’s future: true autonomy is the only way.

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Customer Reviews (1)

Chinese imperialism and the seeds of anger in Tibet
After nearly half a century of Chine occupation of Tibet, riots on an unprecedented scale occurred not only in the Tibetan Administrative Region (TAR), but also in parts of China with substantial Tibetan populations. Prior to what has come to be known as the March Incident of 2008, Tibetan protests had largely been limited to areas within TAR proper. How can we explain the spontaneous -- and violent -- uprising that shocked the world months before the Beijing Olympics and invited an ironfisted crackdown by the Chinese authorities?

The answer is the culminating achievement of The Struggle for Tibet, a collection of articles written by Tibetan academic Tsering Shakya and the Chinese intellectual Wang Lixiong. In what often reads like a dialogue between the two authors, the book explores the question of Tibetan identity, religion, assimilation and resistance from the perspective of Tibetans.

Wang's opening article, Reflections on Tibet, which first appeared in the New Left Review in 2002, provides an anthropological assessment of the Tibetan experience that, though it strives to comprehend Tibetan reality from a local perspective, is far more successful in highlighting the shortcomings and biases of the observer as colonizer.

Wang, who has a commendable record of publicly denouncing Beijing over its treatment of ethnic minorities (and served jail time as a result), is well-intentioned, but his facile explanations for Tibetan acquiescence during the Cultural Revolution and alleged substitution of Buddhism for Maoism are quickly dispatched in Blood in the Snows, Shakya's response to Wang's article, also published in the New Left Review.

Shakya convincingly shows us that the Chinese (and Wang's) perspective on Tibet is strikingly similar to Western colonialism in its mission civilisatrice, condescension toward the simple-minded "native" and co-optation of the elite to manage the colony. Here Shakya is largely influenced by Palestinian academic Edward Said, whose work on how colonial powers interpret the "other" and justify the modernizing endeavor remains essential reading. Even well-meaning Chinese dissidents like Wang, Shakya argues, perpetuate the colonial mind-set, mostly by virtue of their being the product of the society in which they evolve. This leads to the conclusion that democratization in China wouldn't necessarily result in improvements in terms of the rights of ethnic minorities there.

Interestingly, Wang's tone makes a notable shift in the following chapter, Two Imperialisms in Tibet, published two years later. Part of that

reassessment is likely the result of his marrying the famous Tibetan dissident Tsering Woeser, who suffered the direct consequences of intellectual resistance to Chinese colonialism in Tibet. To limit this progression to his relationship with Woeser, however, would do Wang great injustice, as his intellectual development on the question of Tibet also stems from his efforts to understand its people. His discussion of Tibetan intellectuals using the Chinese language, rather than Tibetan, to oppose the Chinese authorities makes some good points, especially when he contrasts the benefits of doing so with the Uighurs' failure to communicate their plight with both the Chinese and the outside world. We also learn that rather than being uprooted, Tibetans who receive an education in China often return as the harshest critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In the next chapter, The End of Tibetan Buddhism, Wang continues on his journey of discovery and turns to the destruction of the monastic class by Chinese authorities. The consequences are far-reaching not only for the Tibetan religion and culture, but also in terms of criminality and environmental protection. Beijing has thrown the monastic class into disarray by ridding itself (sometimes by execution) of independent-minded monks and co-opting those who toe the party line, often via appointments to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), as it did with a low-ranking lama from Nachu, TAR, who publicly condemned the Dalai Lama on several occasions. Rather than provide dharma teachings to the community, many lamas nowadays are more interested in mingling with wealthy devotees from China, rich businessmen and government officials. Some have even attempted to make it into the movie business, Wang laments.

Beijing may claim that Tibetans are allowed to practice their religion, but by corrupting age-old monastic practices and limiting religious acts to superficial traditions, the "freedom" Tibetans experience is "only a freedom to proceed on a downhill secular path," Wang writes. Out of the ashes of religion are emerging patterns of violent behavior that are uncharacteristic of Buddhism, he argues, which surely wasn't what the authorities expected.

This assault on religion (such as Beijing's insistence on imposing its own selection for the 10th Panchen Lama), added to the authorities' inability, following the demise of reform efforts by premier Hu Yaobang in the 1980s, to distinguish between those who actively oppose Chinese policies and the rest, Shakya argues, is what gave rise to the mass unrest in TAR and China that caught Beijing unawares in March 2008. Cellphones and a shared anger at a common enemy, rather than an external plot by Western governments and the "Dalai clique," as Beijing alleges, are the reasons why the violent protests appeared synchronized and coordinated, he says.

Discussing the incident, Wang posits that the system, rather than top CCP leaders, was to blame for the violence. With 13 institutions at the provincial and ministerial level dealing directly with the question of Tibet, and 11 overseeing "anti-separatism," decision-making has fallen into the hands of bureaucracies that seek to maximize their resources, even when their actions go against central policies or the common good. If Wang is right, even if they had sought to restrain the security crackdown on Tibetans, leaders like President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao would have been unable to do so. The validity of this argument may be questionable, but it nevertheless raises interesting questions about changes in the CCP leadership from the era of Mao Zedong, who often sidelined government institutions to implement his policies, until today, when the state apparatus has become thoroughly institutionalized.

The authors' conclusions intersect: Tibet as part of China is a construct of Chinese nationalism, and absent radical change in how China manages its empire, its obsession with "anti-separatism" will inexorably turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Wang concludes that the March Incident was the birth of true Tibetan nationalism; Shakya maintains that given full autonomy over their affairs (which is highly unlikely), Tibetans could be amenable to the "one country, two systems" formula.

The Struggle for Tibet is a valuable addition to the ongoing debate on Tibet and sheds much needed light on China as empire and colonial power.

(Originally published in the Taipei Times, Sunday, May 16, 2010, page 14.) ... Read more

Product Description
A doomed mission sets five young Americans in a forbidden and hostile land.
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Customer Reviews (15)

Fascinating!
A skillful telling of an amazing story! The authors do a superb job of intertwining the political backdrop to the story of what was going on in Tibet during WW2, in a way that the famous Seven Years in Tibet never did. In addition, the suspenseful story of how the plane was blown off course is clear and thrilling, as is the narrative of the 5 men's hellish walk back out of Tibet. The picture of Tibet that emerges seems very realistic--neither glossing over the sometimes barbarous conditions that prevailed in traditional Tibet, the poverty, the filth, the distance between the aristocratic class and most other Tibetans, not neglecting the richness and depth of Tibetan culture. My only disappointment with the book was the rather abrupt ending. The story is told in day by day detail until the men cross back into India, and then the afterstory is told in simple bullet points. The greatest strength of the book is that the authors retraced much of the journey through Tibet and so can describe the landscape and terrain in vivid detail. They also use their sources to create a precise history of exactly what happened, and why. If you enjoy adventure stories, you will find much to like here.

Lost in Tibet is an excellent book
I found this book to be well written and told a remarkable story of the fliers that bailed out of their airplane over Tibet during WWII.

Great Story of Survival, Adventure and Courage

For those hauling cargo over the Hump, the enemy was not the Japanese but rather what is probably the harshest weather and terrain on the earth.

On their ill fated flight the crew is lost and hundreds of miles off course when they finally are down to their last drops of fuel and bail out over an unknown land. Much to their surprise they ended up in a remote part of Tibet.

Most of the book is their story of their long journey to safety. The book also offers an early insight into the China-Tibet political struggles that continue today.

Very well written and an easy read for a rainy day.

I Was There
I enjoyed this book because I was a pilot flying the "Hump" at the same time these men were. Their story is exciting, well written and spell binding and will interest those who enjoy adventure. Almost a thousand aircraft were lost on the "aluminum trail" between India and China. A lot was learned in that operation at the expense of the lives of the young inexperienced airmen who took part. Lost In Tibet gives one an insight of the flying conditions we experienced and also the complicated wartime politics in the Tibetan area of that time. It's a good "read".

Starts out as Fiction
I stopped reading a few pages into the first chapter. I couldn't quit thinking about the ridiculous false statements in the 2nd paragraph of the 1st chapter. First it says "the pilot decided to crash," after the engines catch fire, but he doesn't actually crash. Then it says the cause of the fire was because the spark plug gap was too wide which "let raw fuel run straight through the engines and out the turbines and there it had ignited."

The part about crashing is sensationalism. The part about the sparkplugs is completely wrong since they have nothing to do with the flow of fuel. I'm sure the topic of this story is true but with that many errors on the first page of the first chapter I'm going to find another book on this topic I can trust. ... Read more

Product Description
Riveting firsthand account by a U.S. doctor of the recent turmoil in Tibet.Amazon.com Review
As a way of disposing of corpses in a climate that hampersdecomposition, the Tibetans have a custom of taking corpses to asacred place, breaking up the bones, chopping away the flesh, andleaving it all for vultures to clean up.This is called "skyburial," and as a metaphor for the plight of the Tibetan people,it couldn't be more apt--something Blake Kerr, a doctor fresh out ofmedical school, discovered by accident. During an innocent visit toShangri-La, Kerr suddenly found himself treating the wounds of peoplebeaten and shot during the largest riot in Tibet in almost 30 years.

Kerr and his mountaineering buddy John Ackerly start out astypical brazen adventurers. Through several happenstance contacts inLhasa, however, they are introduced to the lives of Tibetans undercommunist occupation. What they see is disturbing. Gradually, theirsympathies turn toward Tibet and ours toward them. When the riotbreaks out, they risk life and limb to chronicle atrocities and assistthe wounded. For weeks after, they engage in clandestine operations ofassistance. And for years after, they work to bring the oppression,suffering, torture, murder, and forced sterilization of a helplesspeople to worldwide awareness. Part rollicking travel story, partinvestigative journalism, Sky Burial is finally a testament andwill leave you staring blankly, wondering what can be done. --BrianBruya ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A book full of lies
I shared the same feeling when I read the bood, but when I went to Tibet by chance, I found so many lies in book. Tibet is a nice place, and most local people there regard Tibet as a China's province. Those people want Tibet's independence are just a small population, and creating all kinds of lies to get sympathies from all over the world.

A Brutal Truth About China in Tibet
This book brought me to tears.As an activist for the Tibetan cause, I thought I knew how bad things were there, then I read this book.It is fantastically written and includes photographs of China's atrocities in Tibet.

This book is the journey of a man.We watch him go from being a simple tourist and climber to being a doctor and a witness while being present at one of Tibet's largest recorded protests.

Anyone who cares about human rights should read this book

freedon for Tibet
I'm from Brazil, and here we have onlyfew notices about the situation in Tibet. It's not easy to me to read in english, but it's the only way to be aware of the terrible situation on Tibet. Sky Burial is one of these books thatbring us some conscience and desire to make something to help those people andthat country. Since I read this excellent book , I don't buy chinese goods anymore and I do the possible to talk about the tibetans reality with my family and my friends. We, all the people of the world must help Tibet from the chinese hands, before it's to late.

Understand China then Bocott China
Add this book to Tears of Blood By Mary Craig and In Exile From the Land of Snows by John Avedon and Whispered Prayers by Steven Harrison. It is important to understand the brutal nature of China and what buying the "Made in China" label supports in both the government and thosewho control manufacturing and trade.Read, understand and act.This and other books will break your heart that the U.S. wants to become abusiness partner with the horror that is the government of China.

Inspirational and very well documented.
i recomend this book to everyone and if you are a tibetan you must read it. this is one of the best books i have read on tibet and it gives you a very vivid picture of the october 1,1987 uprising in Lahsa and the eventsthat followed. it inspired me and it reminded me as a tibetan that thereare thousands of tibetans right now as we go about our daily lives, thatare imprisoned and being tortured mercilessly in a dark, damp cell in somecorner of tibet. it reminded me that i have a responsibility as a tibetantowards the freedom of tibet. i constantly sobbed throughout the book as ilearned more and more how the chinese relentlessy killed tibetans andtortured them with cattle prods, riffle butts, electric batons and allkinds of horrifying instruments. the book also includes numerous interviewswith tibetan refugees who have escaped the tyranny of the red star. BlakeKerr later travels to Dharamsala and meets the Dalai Lama. the book is verywell written and i enjoyed reading it and the scant humur used in it. goread it... ... Read more

Product Description
An authoritative view of the history and culture of Tibet at a time when this ancient land risks losing its identity under Chinese rule."An impeccably researched, spirited history of the forces that shaped today's Tibet, right down to the way tea is prepared."--Kirkus Reviews."I recommend it."--Jeremy Bernstein, New York Review of Books. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Demystifying Tibet by Lee Feigon
Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows
by Lee Feigon

There is no doubting Lee Feigon's mindset. He holds a chair in East Asian Studies and is Professor of History at Colby College. No surprise then the academic zeal with which he approaches the latest work to add to his erudite canon on Chinese history and politics. But, strange then the unstructured and rambling discourse he then chooses to follow, with it's over-eager use of references (for example, a section describing religious sites is oddly punctuated by a meander into the prevalence of undomesticated canines, and other animals, without even a linking mention of, say, the infamous savage packs of dogs that patrol Dreprung Monastery). Indeed, Feigon fails to deliver a well-formed argument. His style in this book is uncharacteristically piecemeal, clawing together his dissertation with confusing leaps between chronological elements. It is not impossible that this was the symptom of attempting to target a more casual reading audience, but actually producing something that does not adequately communicate to any mass audience.

The lack of structured argument within the book is unfortunate because, within the chaos, Feigon does have a very important academic message to impart. His main tenet is that Tibet should be considered a separate nation and that the inevitable comparisons with China, even across a moral divide between evil China and innocent (almost childlike) Tibet, do injustice to otherwise distinct nations. Notably, China also suffers through this association. Yet, Feigon does not fully develop these ideas, instead preferring to resort to the usual diatribe against Sino-expansionism, towards which he provides dense chronological evidence of Tibetan exploitation and Chinese atrocities. The overall effect is an essentially level-headed analytical argument, but with a bubbling emotive undercurrent yearning for emergence of an independent Tibetan state. I would rather Feigon would have persevered with his academic separatist arguments until their natural conclusion, even if necessarily hypothetical, and he could have abandoned the political activism to NGOs and escapee monks and nuns.

Speaking of insurgency, Feigon makes an interesting claim of CIA involvement in the Dalai Lama's 1959 escape, and further involvement in support of anticommunist guerrillas. If true, then it seems all the more ironic, given the current developments in relations between the USA, and other leading western powers, with China. Another welcome snippet comes from the cameo mention of Lowell Thomas, journalist adventurer and populariser of T.E. Lawrence.

The second half of the book presents most of the anti-Chinese evidence. The opening half of the book concentrates on history, extensively decorated with cultural reference, but amazingly little explanation of religion beyond the historical context. So, Feigon does go some way to revealing the country and culture behind the myth, but in any case, isn't this an outdated premise for the book? Isn't it some time since the West was mystified by Tibet? The modern trend seems to be more one of seduction and vogue, maintaining the romantic notions of a "Land That Time Forgot" that still persist. Simply put, punctuated outsider access to the country and the accumulation of an exhaustive literature, in parallel with the extensive eradication of Tibetan culture by Chinese occupation has corrupted and impoverished most of the ancient secrets of Shangri-La. Apt when James Hilton wrote on the subject, but Feigon's work is a contemporary view where he assumes an antique and static Tibetan culture were it not for China's liberation. This is by definition retrospective and sentimental for a Tibet that ceased to exist decades ago.

"Demystifying Tibet" could be used as a parsimonious introductory guide to Tibetan history and culture, but it does not sufficiently develop any novel analysis. For this there are superior alternatives from that burgeoning modern literature about Tibet: from academia, there is the excellent and balanced "Tibet: The Road Ahead" by Dawa Norbu (1999), from personal Tibetan accounts there is "Tibet: My Story, An Autobiography" by Jetsun Pema (1997) and "Fire Under The Snow" by Palden Gyatso (1998), and from personal non-Tibetan sources there is "Touching Tibet" by Niema Ash (2003). But, perhaps the starting point for anyone wanting to demystify Tibet should be Harrer's "Return To Tibet" (2000), probably the only informed, first-hand comparison from before and after the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

J.F.Derry
07/09/2004

Begin here
The title of this book is apt, for it serves as a handy quick introduction to the vast sweep of Tibetan history, disclosing a land that is not simply the mystical shangri-la we often imagine it is. Like many western readers, I knew next to nothing of the history of Tibet and central asia before the Chinese takeover. The first few chapters here do a good job of outlining this subject, all the while leading up to the author's central thesis that Tibet has historically been separate from China, both politically and culturally. However, political history is seldom cut and dried, and as we move towards the twentieth century we see how British, Russian, and Chinese imperialist politics combined with divisions and corruptions inside Tibet to seal the fate of this isolated country. It was eye-opening to see Tibet as not merely a hapless victim of a cruel invasion, but also as an active, humanly flawed player in the region's mutable history. The author is a college professor but his writing is easily accessible to a general audience.

Couldn't put it down!
I thought this book would be really dry and hard to read. It was as gripping as a lot of novels. I liked it because it didn't talk down to the reader, but explained things clearly enough for those of us unfamiliar with Tibet. Since I have degrees in International relations and Political Science, I can say that it is a balanced account. Things weren't perfect before the Chinese arrived and they have made some improvements. The problem is what is being done to Tibetian culture by China. My Chinese friends tell me how they 'civilized' Tibet but that argument rang hollow to me. I liked how all aspects of Tibet are discussed, the climate, cuisine, culture, etc. along with the history and politics. It's inspired me to learn more about this facinating area of the world.

An excellent general introduction to Tibet!
Lee Feigon's 'Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows' is an excellent source book that provides interesting information about Tibetan history, geography, culture, and religion.This is a 'must-read' book for anyone interested in Tibet, or have plans to visit this fascinating country.The author adopts a very 'reader friendly' style, which does not over simplify or compromise his writing.This is probably one of the best general introduction books on Tibet that I have read.

Helpful, balanced account of Tibetan history, culture
I bought this book prior to making a trip to Tibet in 1999, and found it to be invaluable in helping me to understand the history and culture of the amazing place I was to visit.Feigon takes the reader through Tibet's longhistory, from the time of conquering Tibetan kings to the present.Butrather than delivering a dry historical narrative, the author weaves inmuch about Tibetan culture, such as the role of women in society and theimportance of religion to people's lives.As I toured Tibet and listenedto the "Chinese version" of Tibetan history, it was helpful tohave read this book in order to better understand the complex reality ofTibet's historical experiences.Feignon strives for balance, and showsthat while Tibet is clearly not "an inalienable part of China",neither is it the Shangri-la of Hollywood movie stars or teen rock idols. He criticizes the Western image of Tibetans as innocent victims, painting abigger picture of Tibet's complex--and not always pleasant--history.Butdespite this effort to achieve balance, the author's animosity toward Chinacomes through loud and clear.While many of his criticisms seem justified,his bias causes him to gloss over some aspects of Tibet's history.TheChinese, for example, make much of having "liberated" Tibetansfrom serfdom, and indeed, it would have been useful to know more about whatreally happened.Yet Feigon devotes only one paragraph to describing thefeudal system which dominated most people's lives in Tibet prior to 1950. Nevertheless, reading this book helps one to understand that the future ofTibet cannot simply be a return to the theocratic system of the early 20thcentury.Mr. Feigon's book does much to de-bunk the simplistic myths thathave grown up around Tibet, propagated (mainly) by China but also by thosewho claim Tibet's cause as their own. ... Read more

Product Description
Tensions over the political status of Tibet areescalating every day. The Dalai Lama has gained broad internationalsympathy in his appeals for autonomy from China, yet the Chinesegovernment maintains a hard-line position against it. What is thehistory of the conflict? Can the two sides come to an acceptablecompromise? In this thoughtful analysis, distinguished professor andlongtime Tibet analyst Melvyn C.Goldstein presents a balanced viewof the conflict as well as a proposal for the future.Clearly writtenand carefully argued, this book will become the definitive source foranyone seeking to understand the "Tibet Question" during thisdangerous turning point in its turbulent history.Amazon.com Review
Just the facts, Ma'am. Wouldn't it be nice if we could simplyinspect the historical record and resolve the question of whether ornot Tibet has traditionally been a part of China?Melvyn Goldstein,anthropologist and Tibet specialist, takes us in that direction inThe Snow Lion and the Dragon.

The results?Not so fast.Like a scientist analyzing experimental data, Goldstein walks usthrough centuries of unending political struggle and battles ofconquest. He shows us that Tibet first came under Chinese suzeraintyduring the Mongolian era and then for almost 300 years during the Manchuera. For the most part, The Snow Lion and the Dragon succeedsas chronicle of the power plays of two governments vying for controlof Tibet.

But when Goldstein speaks of the Chinese government, whatdoes he mean by "Chinese"?Does he mean the Mongols whenthey controlled the territory we call China and the Manchus when theydid?Were these legitimate Chinese governments?

AlthoughGoldstein is sincere in his objective methods, many questions such asthese lurk behind the illusion objectivity. Ultimately, history isinterpretation, and without admitting this, Goldstein lures the readerinto a false sense of complacency.

The Snow Lion and theDragon is a helpful historical summary for anyone who wonders howthe Tibet Question has played itself out from the beginning up until1997, but for an adequate examination of historical subtletiessurrounding the issue, we must continue to wait. --Brian Bruya ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Visa approved.
After having written this book on Tibet's history, Goldstein is still able to easily get visas to conduct research inside Tibet by the Chinese authorities. This tells you how his books and research conclusions are viewed by the CCP.

A quick and relatively balanced overview of 1000 year of sino-tibet history
I am not an expert in this area, and just want a quick but balanced overview of the history between Tibet and China to form the basis of my own view of the situation.This book provides exactly that.Any one who read this book will appreciate the complexity of the relationship between the two.Interestingly, it also helps one to understand why UK and US are so interested or dis-interested in Tibet issue during different time in the history.The book made another strong impression on me, that is: how much history is really about the power struggle of the rulers/elite classes in the name of religion/culture/nationalism and so rarely (almost never) is about the people's interest.

Good introduction by preeminant Tibet scholar
If you're looking to start diving into the mire of the Tibet Question, then this is the place to start. Don't rely on obviously biased materials from people with vested interests like the PRC or even the FREE TIBET campaign. They have agendas. Goldstein, however, is one of the best western scholars on Tibet. He knows Tibetan language and culture well, and this book is a very concise (read: incomplete) intro to the historical realities of the political dimension of Tibet today.

The book is short enough to not be daunting, and written well enough to hold one's attention and be understood thoroughly. No blathering about useless tangents and side points. I read it long ago, and it was a great jumping-off point to further research.

Further reading on the subject would include some of Goldstein's other books like "A History of Modern Tibet", as well as Tsering Shakya's "Dragon in the Land of Snows" and Barry Suatman's collected volume "Contemporary Tibet" which contains some good chapters by folks like Robert Barnett and other Tibetan and Chinese scholars.

This is where the real information is. Don't start with biased material. By all means read that stuff, but start with something that will give you a relatively neutral picture first, then judge for yourself.

below expectations
Probably Melvyn Goldstein could not write something irrelevant about Tibet even if he wanted to, but here he comes unexpectedly close. This booklet is based on an "occasional paper" and it feels. This said, it still worth reading, but some distracted and vaguely cynical remarks leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

Seems a balanced presentation on a sensitive subject
Bear in mind that my background in Chinese and Tibetan history and politics is negligible. And that the fate of the Tibetan people is being considered. That said, this seemed at least a very readable account. I assume the historical facts in this book can be cross-checked for accuracy. As to Goldstein's analysis (done before 1998) of the future, he explored possibilities for compromise that, to date, seem not to have occurred. He also expresses concern about the possibility of further violence if an adequate compromise is not reached.

When looking into the Tibetan problem, I found primarily decidedly pro-Chinese or pro-Tibetan positions. Compromise may seem unreasonable. Since Goldstein appears to be trying to find a middle position, this book may be useful for anyone trying to get a less biased view of this issue. The presentation seemed clear enough that it could serve as an introduction to this issue, although it may well also be of use to readers with a more advanced background in this area. Goldstein seems to be primarily offering input and not conclusions, so whatever your position on the Tibet issue, this book may be informative. ... Read more

Product Description
Much writing about Tibet and especially on Tibetan responses to Chinese communist rule has been sentimental and highly polemical. Also, many publications on recent development have been based on travellers' accounts. This volume adopts a more balanced and rigorous analytical approach to modern Tibetan society. Questions of identity and ethnicity in Tibet and the character and course of the anti-Chinese protests since 1987 are principal themes. Earlier history, ideology, economic development and China's post-1980 reforms are also examined. ... Read more

Product Description
China's policies towards Tibet and other ethnic border territories during the political reign of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists are often understood as a deliberate exercise of power. In this groundbreaking study, Hsiao-ting Lin demonstrates that the frontier was the subject neither of concerted aggression on the part of a centralized and indoctrinated Chinese government, nor of an ideologically driven nationalist ethnopolitics.

Lin utilizes recently declassified Chinese official documents to reveal how the Nationalist sovereignty over Tibet and other border regions was more the result of rhetorical grandstanding on the part of Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist regime than a definite plan to exert control over the region. He reveals that it was not until the Sino-Japanese war (1937-45) that the besieged wartime Nationalists took the opportunity to push Han Chinese authority farther west. Whether a matter of state building or regime survival, this development pressed postwar China's territorial extension of its previously imaginary state control into Central Asia, the consequences of which still reverberate in the region.

Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier makes a crucial contribution to the understanding of past and present China-Tibet relations. A counterpoint to erroneous historical assumptions, this book will change the way Tibetologists and modern Chinese historians frame future studies of the region. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
Title: Western Tibet and the British Borderland; the Sacred Country of Hindus and Buddhists, With an Account of the Government, Religion, and Customs of Its PeoplesPublisher: London : E. ArnoldPublication date: 1906Subjects: BuddhismHinduismMountaineeringTibet (China) -- Description and travelTibet (China) -- Politics and government 20th centuryNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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The story of a woman's, and her country's, spiritual struggle for survival. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Truly inspiring
This is a very powerful and moving account of one woman's life of incredible hardship and suffering, a personal view of the systematic destrucion of Tibet. Ama-la lost her family, her friends, her country. But, despite experiencing the horrors of the Tibetan holocaust, she held on to her identity, her dignity, and her compassion.

Ama-la's sincere good-heartedness, rooted in the heart of Tibetan culture, triumphs in the end over the inhumanity unleashed by Mao's China. Prison, privation, and state-sponsored brutality fail to undermine this amazing woman's sense of what it means to be a decent human being. Here is a role model for everyone, everywhere.

The basic goodness of this remarkable woman is conveyed perfectly in this simple, honest narrative. This is a story that one finds difficult to turn away from. Ama Adhe is a person the reader will care about deeply after reading this book.

Ama-la survived to remind us that more than a million Tibetans did not. I hope that readers will be inspired to look learn more about this monumental tragedy, one which continues to this day.

This book is for everyone- it must be read
Ama Adhe's story is one of the most amazing and powerful I have ever read. You may have heard of the Tibetan struggle for independence, but Ama's story will blow your mind! This book is incredibly moving, honest and one of the most important historical accounts that has ever been written. Only if you read this book will you truly understand the fight for a Free Tibet. Ama Adhe is a true hero for what she survived, for standing up for her beliefs and for not viewing herself as a hero. If you have any interest in human rights and believe in standing up for a cause, read this book.

Women and Tibetan Freedom
I have read a number of books on Tibet, but this was the first from a womans point of view.To learn not only about women in Tibet but women in general was very educational.Being one of very very few to survive her prison ordeal Ama has taken the task of sharing the story of many of her dead friends.The attrocities have been played down to some extent, compared to other books I have read.Good for the sensative but curriouse reader.Worth while.

A True Heroine
This is one of my favorite books of all time--among thousands of books I've read.Writing with great honesty and humility, Ama Adhe's courage and compassion shine like a lamp for anyone faced with oppression, torture and brutality for their beliefs and devotion to their homeland and people.My heart goes out to her with great gratitude for sharing her story with the world.I hope others will read it and treasure the example of her spirit.I think her book made me a better person.

The Voice That Remembers will never be forgotten
This is a very powerful and moving account of one woman's life ofincredible hardship and suffering. Ama-la lost her family, her friends, andher country... but she kept her identity, her dignity, or her compassion.What makes this story so inspiring is that Ama-la's sinceregood-heartedness triumphs, against appalling odds, over the systemic evilthat the People's Republic of China unleashed on her and on her Tibetanhomeland. Prison, privation, brutality, and hate fail utterly to underminethis amazing woman's sense of what it means to be a decent human being.Here is a role model for everyone, everywhere.

The basic goodness of thisremarkable woman is conveyed perfectly in this simple, honest narrative.This is a story that one finds difficult to turn away from. Ama Adhe is aperson the reader will care about deeply after reading this book. ... Read more

Product Description
The journey that the author A.H Franke, a member of the Moravian Misson, undertook in 1909 was on the behest of the British Indian Government for carrying out an archaeological survey of the districts that comprised of Indian Tibet (now the regions of Lahul and Spiti in state of Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir). These areas had never been explored and Franke was best suited for this purpose, given his knowledge of local history and antiquities and fluency in the Tibetan language. Starting from Shimla on the 14th of June 1909 he traveled upto the Satluj Valley through the hill state of Rampur Bashahr he reached Spiti.Crossing the Parungla pass he continued through Rubshu and the Tso Moriri Lake in South Eastern Ladakh and then to Leh, the capital of Ladakh. After a brief stay at Leh he crossed the Zoji pass to reach Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. The second volumes give the Tibetan text and English translation of the chronicles of Zangskar, Baltistan, Lahul along with the genealogies of the chiefs of these areas. It contains rare maps of the lahul, spiti, rubshu, kinnaur areas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

On the footprints ofRev. August Hermann Francke
I trekked on author's step on 2003 from Spiti to Ladakh. Francke'spersonal narrative was first published in 1914 and is an archaeological survey of the districts which once formed the kingdom of Western Tibet.
These mountainous regions, then belonging to the Indian Empire, and therefore indicated as Indian Tibet had never been explored by any scholar combining a knowledge of local history and antiquities with a thorough acquaintance of Tibetan. The author Dr. Franck acquired these rare accomplishments in the course of his many years in in Ladakh and Lahul.
Starting from Simla on the 14th June, 1909, he traveled up to Satluj Valley through the hill-state of Rampur-Bashahr, and crossing through Pharang Pass, and mountain passes the Phologongkha Pass and the Thagland Pass reached Ladakh, the real center of the ancient realm of Western Tibet. After a brief stay at Leh, the ancient seat of the Gyal-Po rulers of that country, Dr. Francke traveled westwards and after crossing the Photho La, Namika Pass, and the Zoji La, reached Srinagar on the 16th of October.
This journal of his four months travel bear ample evidence of the spirit of the explorer who was animated by the true enthusiasm of the scholar. This journal made very important additions to our knowledge of the archaeology and history of Indian Tibet. ... Read more