Product Description
This book discusses the emergence of democracy's modernizing force in an exiled community with a political history based on a feudal theocracy. Since his exile almost forty years ago, the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile have steered this fledgling democratic community toward the fulfillment of his dream of converting a theocracy to a democracy. The establishment of a tripartite government with separate powers and the development of a framework for a future democratic polity-if and when Tibetans regain their land-is a testament to the ongoing democratizing revolution. ... Read more

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The land of Tibet--its people, culture, and religion--has long been both an object of contention and a source of fascination. Since 1959, Tibet has also been at the center of controversy when China's "peaceful liberation" of the land of snows led to the Lhasa uprising and the Dalai Lama's escape to India. Authenticating Tibet: Answers to China's "100 Questions" offers clear and unbiased responses to a booklet published by the Chinese government in 1989, which sought to counter the criticism generated by the Dalai Lama and his followers and offer the PRC's "truth" about Tibet and Tibetans. In Authenticating Tibet, international Tibet scholars provide historically accurate answers to 100 Questions and deal evenhandedly with both China's "truth" about Tibet and that of the Dalai Lama and his followers. Designed for use by a general audience, the book is an accessible reference, free of the polemics that commonly surround the Tibet question. Although these experts refute many of the points asserted by China, they do not offer blanket endorsements for the claims made by the pro-Tibet movement. Instead, they provide an accurate, historically based assessment of Tibet's past and its troubled present. ... Read more

Product Description
Buddha's Warriors is the first book that brings to life Tibet before the Chinese communist invasions and depicts the transition of peaceful monks to warriors with the help of the CIA.

Tibet in the last sixty years has been so much mystified and politicized that the world at large is confused about what really happened to the "Rooftop of the World" when Mao Tse-tung invaded its borders in 1950. There are dramatically conflicting accounts from Beijing and Dharamsala (home of the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile). Adding to the confusion is the romanticized spin that Western writers and filmmakers have adopted in an effort to appease the popular myth of Shangri-La.

Buddha's Warriors is no fairy tale. Set in a narrative framework but relying heavily on the oral transcripts of the Tibetan men who actually fought the Chinese, Buddha's Warriors tells, for the first time, the inside story of these historic developments, while drawing a vivid picture of Tibetan life before, during, and after Mao's takeover. The firsthand accounts, gathered by the author over a period of seven years, bring faces and deeply personal emotions to the forefront of this ongoing tragedy. It is a saga of brave soldiers and cowardly traitors. It's about hope against desolation, courage against repression, atheism against Buddhism. Above all, it's about what happens to an ancient civilization when it is thrust overnight into the modern horrors of twentieth-century warfare. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

True story of Tibetan struggle
This is an excellent, well researched book on the Tibetan struggle against the Chinese invasion and the CIA involvement. Just further confirmation of Chinese genocide in Tibet.

fearless, though largely forsaken, Tibetan/Khampa freedom fighters vs. coward yet bloodthirsty Chinese butchers
Heart-gripping eyewitness accounts, augmented by background information, about the horrors of the Communist aggression and Tibetan resistance's attempts to counter them. It's also a story of patriotic heroism, self-sacrifice, perseverance, treason (Ngabo Jigme Norbu) and betrayal (Baba Gen Yeshi), as well as of sadistic maltreatment of the native population at the hands of the Chinese colonizers, the indifference and/or duplicity on the part of the international community, then as now.
The events are related in the timeframe between 1947 and 1974, taking the reader on a journey from the lull before the storm as experienced in Kham (Eastern Tibet), the PLA's incursion and subsequent genocidal conquest from 1950 onward, through the uprising in Lhasa and the escape of the 14th Dalai lama in 1959, to the gunning down of Wangdu, leader of the armed resistance based in Mustang (gLo sMon-thang, Nepal), at the mountainous Indo-Nepali border.
The author conducted interviews of various length and depth with 18 Tibetans now living in exile, who either participated in the CIA-trained, supplied, airdropped or overland reinfiltrated Tibetan Task Force (1957-71), or once were members of the tens of thousand strong, mostly mounted, force called Chushi Gangdruk ('Four Rivers, Six Ranges') commanded by Gompo Tashi (d. 1964), or were monks or laymen experiencing the total destruction of their country.
Furthermore, extensive communications with the upright ex-CIA operatives Roger E. McCarthy (author of the rare book titled "Tears of the Lotus," 1997) and Frank Holober shed light on barely known aspects of the Agency's involvement in the Tibetan freedom fight. Following a Chinese surprise attack and their crossing the McMahon line along the region known as Northeastern Frontier Agency (NEFA; today Arunachal Pradesh) in 1962, the Sikh General S. S. Uban (also interviewed) organized India's Special Frontier Forces (SFF) that included Unit 22 of Khampa Tibetans chiefly, who were later deployed to bring an end to the East Pakistani/Bangladeshi civil war of 1972 (pp. 357-63, 384-86).

Corrigenda:

+ Little amulet-box worn around the neck is called gau, not gua* (p. 24, 164, 394).
+ Dza[rDza]-chu, the head-waters of Mekong, does not translate as "Moon River" (p. 28), but 'Mud(dy) River' rather.
+ Place/Mountain name Jowo Zegyal should not be rendered as "King of the Big" (p. 28 fn. 30), but perhaps the 'Noble One's' (i.e., Buddha's) Victorious Abode,' provided Ze(gyal) is written gZe(-rgyal).
+ "Loung-gompas (sky-walkers or sky-dancers) were ascetics who...could attain supernatural speed and lightness of body" (p. 33). This sentence is misleading inasmuch as "sky-dancer/walker" is reserved to translate kandroma (fm)/kandrowa (m) [Skt. da(a)kini(i)/da(a)ka]. Rlung gom-pa ('wind-walker') seems to be synomymous with rkang mgyogs ('swift feet'), one of the minor siddhis (superhuman capablities) of Vajraya(a)na adepthood.
+ Re (p. 136 fn. 36): The term 'bardo' is not Sanskrit but Tibetan, meaning 'intermediate state.' The Sanskrit equivalent is antara(a)bhava, I think.
+ This humble reviewer would like to know the source for the author's untenable claim according to which "cannibalism" (p. 213) was practiced in pre-Buddhist Bon belief system (proto-Bön).

Difficult to Read
I'm sorry to say that I couldn't read much of this book because of frequent grammatical and sentence-structure problems. I got tired of parsing sentences to determine what the author really meant. I'm sorry to see such bad editing by a major publisher and hope that someone will publish again on this important topic in the near future.

The Human Cost of Cultural Genocide
This is a book that brings the savagery and dehumanization of a people up very close and personal. It is told through the recounting of interviews that chillingly verify its authenticity through footnotes and specific information. Mikel Dunhaminterviewed Tibetan warriors, and American advisors to arrive at the truth behind the devastation to the Tibetan culture that was effected by the brutal Chinese invasion of 1959.The little known involvement of the USA and its attempts to train the Tibetan Guerrillas in subversive warfare should be known to the world.The forgotten people of Tibet who died in the thousands defending their country deserve more than oblivion.This book is an admirable attempt to right that enormous wrong.It is also a tale of the gross ineptness and laissez faire neglect of a potential strategic ally that was dismissed out of ignorance, arrogance and self serving politics.The book is a monument to the lost people of Tibet.

From the back cover -
"Thousands of Buddhist monks renounced their vows of nonviolence, and -- in the name of freedom -- charged into enemy lines. As the rest of the world watched wit only the barest of interst, the United States began secretly training and arming groups of young Tibetan feeedom fighters, hoping to increase Tibet's chances of thwarting communist China.

"Through interviews with the surviving warriors, religious and political leaders from Tibet and India, and the Dalai Lama -- whose dramatic escape from Tibet was facilitated by armed monks -- Dunham crafts a luminous narrative that cuts through the glamorized Western view of Tibet and the sanitized Chinese version of its occupation to reveal the extraordinary true story of the brave men and women who fought for the country -- and their culture." ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1905 edition by Hurst and Blackett, Ltd., London. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Must Read
Absolutely fantastic account of the Younghusband expedition to penetrate the heart of Tibet. Must read by all interested in Tibet and its history. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Tibet: A Political History
It is a shame Tibet: A Political History is out of print. Although there are several books dealing with Tibetan history, this is quite meaningful in these times of academic and especially political dispute between Tibet and China over the historical status of Tibet as an independent nation beforethe Communist invasion of 1949-1950.

Although it focuses on politicalmatters, it doesn't neglect important aspects of religious development,which in the case of Tibet are crucial to understand the very specialevolution of the Tibetan State over the centuries, as well as Tibetanrelations with neighboring powers, such as the Chinese, Nepalese andMongols, to name a few.

It is also important to notice that even if it iswritten from a Tibetan point of view -the author was a government officer,not from the present Tibetan Government-in-Exile, but from the Tibetangovernment prior to the invasion-, it doesn't present the all-too-commonview of Tibet as a sort of Shangri-La, where Tibet was a paradise on Earthwhose inhabitants were quasi-angels until the Big Bad Communist Wolf cameand blew everything apart. There is a healthy amount of criticism tocertain Tibetan attitudes and actions over the centuries, thus making amore credible account of the country's history.

As one should expect froma good history book, there are references to several sources. The authoreven bothers to explain the differences of quoting in the academic Westernmanner, which he uses for his Western sources, and the traditionalTibetanway, which he also uses.

Perhaps there are more recent books whichcomprise better research, but this title should not be be missed, since itoffers a comprehensive history spanning from Tibet's mythological originsto the first years of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, and it can beunderstood by specialists and general readers alike. Yale University Pressoriginally published it in 1967, and a new edition (to me it looks like afacsimile, except for the cover) was presented by Snow Lion Publications inthe nineties. I hope they will print it again some time.

Tibet: A Political History
...Although there are several books dealing with Tibetanhistory, this is quite meaningful in these times of academic andespecially political dispute between Tibet and China over thehistorical status of Tibet as an independent nation before the Communist invasion of 1949-1950.

Although it focuses on political matters, it doesn't neglect important aspects of religious development, which in the case of Tibet are crucial to understand the very special evolution of the Tibetan State over the centuries, as well as Tibetan relations with neighboring powers, such as the Chinese, Nepalese and Mongols, to name a few.

It is also important to notice that even if it is written from a Tibetan point of view -the author was a government officer, not from the present Tibetan Government-in-Exile, but from the Tibetan government prior to the invasion-, it doesn't present the all-too-common view of Tibet as a sort of Shangri-La, where Tibet was a paradise on Earth whose inhabitants were quasi-angels until the Big Bad Communist Wolf came and blew everything apart. There is a healthy amount of criticism to certain Tibetan attitudes and actions over the centuries, thus making a more credible account of the country's history.

As one should expect from a good history book, there are references to several sources. The author even bothers to explain the differences of quoting in the academic Western manner, which he uses for his Western sources, and the way Tibetan academics have traditionally done, which he also uses.

Perhaps there are more recent books which comprise better research, but this title should not be be missed, since it offers a comprehensive history spanning from Tibet's mythological origins to the first years of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, and it can be understood by specialists and general readers alike... ... Read more

Product Description
Plunging deep into the history of the Roof of the World, this book introduces us to the one the greatest tragedies of modern times, its main characters as well as the forces moving them, consciously or unconsciously.

Customer Reviews (1)

Pairs real-life experiences with historical insights to offer kids fine, personal examples beyond headline reports or history
The fine books in the 'Global Hot Spots' series are especially notable because they will reach a far younger audience than is usual for the choice of topics. Each book holds 32 pages of information, includes plenty of contemporary color photos, an index, and glossary and bibliography, and provides easy reading stories beyond headlines. Nathaniel Harris' BURMA (MYANMAR), David Downing's COLOMBIA, Paul Mason's CUBA, Clive Gifford's NORTH KOREA, Yvonne Thorpe's ZIMBABWE and Joseph Harris' TIBET all pair real-life experiences with historical insights to offer kids fine, personal examples beyond headline reports or history. ... Read more

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This deeply knowledgeable book offers the first sustained analysis of the 2008 uprising in Tibet, which revealed much about Tibetan nationalism and even more about Chinese nationalism. Retracing the complex history between China and Tibet, noted expert Warren Smith describes the uprising itself and explores its broader significance for Chinese-Tibetan relations. He sharply critiques China's use of heavy-handed propaganda to recast the uprising and obscure its origins and significance. The book convincingly shows that far from becoming more lenient in response to Tibetan discontent, China has determined to eradicate Tibetan opposition internally and coerce the international community to conform to China's version of Tibetan history and reality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Author review
I began writing this book at the time of the March 2008 uprising. The protests and demonstrations had an air of desperation about them (Tibetans waving flags, knowing the penalty for that). As the story went on it became more about China's response. China managed to counter international threats to boycott the Olympic opening by pretending to dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives (in late April and July). And they exploited the Sichuan earthquake for international sympathy. Once the Olympics were over they scornfully rejected the Memorandum on Tibetan Autonomy that the Tibetan side presented. Since then they have declared Tibet a core issue of China's sovereignty about which China cannot legitimately be criticized by anyone who has recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet--and that's everyone! They say that Tibet is not an issue of human rights, ethnicity or religion and they will not talk about those issues with anyone, whether foreign critics or the Dalai Lama's reps. They have put unprecedented pressure on all countries to avoid meeting with the Dalai Lama. So, even though it seemed in March 2008 that the uprising would create leverage against China for Tibetans and their supporters, the Chinese managed to turn it into what they now think is their advantage. They have mounted a new diplomatic offensive in regard to Tibet. This new offensive, combined with the repression inside Tibet and the intolerance of any measure of autonomy, is what inspired the title, Tibet's Last Stand? Notice the question mark. I don't mean to say that China will finally be successful in repressing all Tibetan resistance, within Tibet or internationally, just that their response to the uprising was to become even more intolerant of Tibetan autonomy and international support for Tibet. They now seem to believe that they have to eradicate the Tibetan political issue and they think they have the means--repression, patriotic education, development, colonization and the diplomatic offensive--to do so.
Warren Smith ... Read more

Product Description
What will the post-Taliban government of Afghanistan look like? How will the war in Afghanistan affect the already unstable politics of Central Asia? In War at the Top of the World, veteran foreign correspondent Eric Margolis presents a revelatory history of the complicated and volatile conflicts that have entangled Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, the Soviet Union, and many others.

By 1999, Pakistan had proven they have medium-range nuclear weapons, and now the threat thattheir government could be taken over by a radical Islamic fundamentalist faction is stronger than ever.In fact, Osama bin Laden has already claimed to have a nuclear weapon.How could this have happened? Margolis plays witness to the escalating conflicts of the past decade, tracing disputes over Afghanistan, as well as those ever neighboring Kashmir and Tibet, back to their Cold War roots, exploring clashes that continue to threaten to destabilize the region today.

Combining vivid first-hand accounts of a war correspondent with a historical and strategic overview of the region, Margolis guides the reader through the geopolitical complexities of the area and its key players. He offers a clear, concise analysis of a complicated and little-understood part of the world that is home to a quarter of the world's population. Fascinating and now more timely than ever, War at the Top of the World is an extraordinary read for anyone interested in the current global balance of power. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (85)

This is Eric's insight which is usually deep and wide
For those who want to understand Afghanistan, Kashmir and the background of the conflict there this book is a "must read".

Utter Trash
Barely readable. The guy isn't aware ofbasic principles of research. Author uses no prime-sources documentation.Blog-like quality of writing.Avoid at all cost.

A heavy and unrealistic one-sided view
Firstly, the book is very heavily one-sided mostly being Anti-Indian and pro-Mujahideen...

Secondly, the author does not make much distinction between facts and opinions (his own personal opinions). He makes many factless assertions and generalizes them. While it is not wrong to express opinions and generalizations it is very objectionable to do so and then claim that the book is written from a neutral background and that the book presents the ultimate truth.

The authors description of the caste system within India is classic - He has made very good description of the caste system and the problems in it - most of what he describes is true but it seems very much out of place in the context of the book. Besides the fact that the impact of caste system is fast diminishing in India, the author does not explain the purpose with which it was developed in ancient India (hence this view of his is also one-sided).

I did read some comments where people did like the content of the bookbut doubted on the neutrality. Particularly interesting are different factors and complexities in central asia and the method in which the author elaborates them. But since the book is extremely one-sided many peole will not even be able to know when the author shifts from facts to opininons. To those guys I would like to say that there are many more good books written by British and other authors dating from the 1800's to recent years. These books do provide the details about the complexities, diversity and conflicts in this region (Ahmed Rashid is a good author compared to this one in the context of providing facts and opinions neutrally).

After reading the book, I was not sure what the author set out to prove in the first place. When to start to read the book you feel that it attempts to provide information and truth-based facts. But later it seems like the author wants to prove something. His one-sided favouritism is very clear.

What alerts me most is the fact that the author just stops short by a minuscle bit - any more sympathy would mean a complete support to the "terrorist" outfits and their promoters.

I would not be too surprised if this author someday in future writes a book justifying the 9/11 attacks by Al-Queda / Taliban and other atrocities commited by them.

Disappointingly biased
I have been a reader of Eric Margolis since my university days - over a decade ago. I bought the book and passed it on to my father. Ignore the glowing, positive reviews. Either they have not read the book, or their personal biases (Margolis is rightly perceived as an apologist for Islamic fundamentalism) prevent an accurate assessment. The book makes for interesting reading, but is full of inaccuracies and a strange bias - Margolis comes across as very bigoted against Indians (specifically Hindus) and is told from the basic point of view of a Pakistani army officer or Mujahedin, who Margolis homo-erotically fawns over.

Margolis' 'sympathy' for Pakistan clouds his ability to offer informed analysis. As it is, the book is mere propaganda for the theocratic state of Pakistan.

I'll still keep reading Margolis because he's amusing - but not because I feel that he's providing me with objective views, researched and conclusions supported by critically examined evidence.

Biased writing, not much depth or knowledge fo India
Eric does not have much depth knowledge of India or its traditions or cultural nuances. The book almost seeems to be the views of Pakistani propaganda machine. Most Indians reading this book would be very dismissive of the condescending attitute of the attitude of Mr. Margolis towards India.
His speaking of circumcision and that Indians thinking of Muslims as sexually robust shows the stupidity of analysis used in writing about peoples and racial prejudices prelavant through out. Not a very scholarly work. ... Read more

Product Description
The Golden Yoke causes us to rethink American legal culture. The legal cosmology of Buddhist Tibet brings into question both the autonomous framework underlying this system and most of the presumptions we have about the very nature of law, from precedent and res judicata to rule formation and closure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent and interesting anthropological work.
French provides the first detailed examination of the Tibetan legalsystyem based on research carried out in India (Dharamsala) where sheworked closely with a former Tibetan official. Based on his own personalaccounts of life as an official in central Tibet prior to the occupation byChina and law codes issued by the Ganden Phodrang government of the DalaiLamas and earlier works she provides an interesting, indeed fascinatinginsight into the operation of law and legal processes in a Buddhist state.Using ancedotal evidence and the law codes she divides the book in to twosections. The first outines legal and Buddhist concepts which permeate thesecond part whcih uses a wide range of "ethnographic" ancedotesto show how religious ideals and legal practices were interlinked.

Thewriting is lucid and although an excellent work for those interested inTibet academically, it is an accessible work which contains manyfascinating details. Perhaps it is unfortunate that it appears to presentTibet as a homogenous society under the hegemoci rule of the Lhasagovernment( which it was not), nor does she really consider law and legalprocesses among non-Buddhist in Tibet, notably she is silent on Moslems andthe Bon-po and perhaps this reflects not only the desire to present theBuddhist aspect of law in Tibet but the prejudices of her own principalinformant. Her presentation of Buddhism also perhaps gives the reader theimpression of it being a monolithic and uniform religion and in particularseems to emphasis the Gelugpa tradition within Tibetan Buddhism. What ofthe other traditions and in particular non-Buddhist practices? On a moreacademic note it would be more useful to scholars tohave properreferences to the sections of the law codes cited that to her own notebooks! Of course Dr French is producing transaltions of these works which will hopeful deal with this minor, but important comment.

Overall, animportant first step towards developing our understanding and appreciationfor the interconnection between religious doctrineand law in Tibet. Areal labor of love by the author and one for which she must be highlycommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Foreign relations of Tibet proceed in the first instance from the agreements which China, Russia, India and the United Kingdom entered into regarding Tibet's status. Later the United States and the United Nations were to play a role as they reacted to the assertion of sovereignty by the People's Republic of China beginning in 1950. Nepal and the other small independent or semi-independent countries in the Indian-Tibetan border region play a minor role as does Mongolia. Little is known of Tibet before the 7th century when Buddhism was introduced by missionaries from India; between the 8th and 10th centuries it was a strong empire. There was a stone pillar, the Lhasa Zhol rdo-rings, in the ancient village of Zhol in front of the Potala in Lhasa, dating to c. 764 CE during the reign of Trisong Detsen. It also contains an account of the brief capture of Chang'an, the Chinese capital, in 763 CE during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang. As of 1993 the pillar was surrounded by buildings and wire so it could not be approached closely. Lhasa Zhol Rdo-rings pillar 1993A stone monument dating to 823 and setting out the terms of peace and borders between Tibet and China arrived at in 821 can still be seen in front of the Jokhang temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa. The monument, a treaty of friendship, is written in both Tibetan and Chinese. The inscribed pillar was erected by the Chinese in 1793 during a smallpox epidemic. It records the Sino-Tibetan treaty of 822 concluded by King Ralpacan and includes the following inscription: "Tibet and China shall abide by the frontiers of which they are now in occupation. All to the east is the country of Great China; and all to the west is, without question, the country of Great Tibet. Henceforth on neither ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=867821 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent compilation!
James Seymour and friends compilates a wide array of chinese viewpoints of Tibets status. While only few of the writers acknowledges the Chinese occupation and argues for a independent Tibet, there are certainly interesting essays.

Books like this should be read be ignorant western and chinese readers alike. ... Read more