The remarkable true story of the miraculous journey that made the Dalai Lama into the man he is today and sparked the fight for Tibetan freedom “A hair-raising tale of daring and escape.”—The Washington Post In the early weeks of 1959, a bloody uprising gripped the streets of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa as ragtag Tibetan rebels faced off against their Communist Chinese occupiers. Realizing that the impending battle would result in a bloodbath and his own capture, the young Dalai Lama began planning an audacious escape to India, a two-week journey that would involve numerous near-death encounters, a dangerous mountain crossing, and evading thousands of Chinese soldiers who were intent on hunting him down. The journey would transform this naïve young man into one of the world’s greatest statesmen . . . and create an enduring beacon of hope for a nation. Emotionally powerful and irresistibly page-turning, Escape from the Land of Snows is simultaneously a portrait of the inhabitants of a spiritual nation forced to take up arms in defense of their ideals, and the saga of a burgeoning leader who was ultimately transformed into the towering figure the world knows today—a charismatic champion of free thinking and universal compassion.

A history of modern Tibet, discussing the efforts of Tibetan leaders to maintain the country's independence in the face of increasing political pressures.

In this fascinating memoir the Dalai Lama’s mother tells a compelling woman’s story. With vivid and intimate details, she recounts her life’s humble beginning, the customs and rituals of old Tibet, the births of her sixteen children (only seven of whom survived), learning her son’s remarkable destiny, the family’s arduous move to Lhasa before the Chinese invasion of Tibet, and their escape and eventual exile. Rich in historic and cultural details, this moving memoir personalizes the history of the Tibetan people—the magic of their culture, the role of their women, and their ancient ideals of compassion, faith, and equanimity.

Since 1959, Tibet has been at the centre of controversy, after China's 'peaceful liberation' of the Land of Snows led to the Lhasa uprising and the Dalai Lama's escape to India. This work brings together responses to a booklet published by the Chinese government in 1989, which sought to counter criticism of their occupation of Tibet.

Recounts the history of Tibet, describes how its culture is more similar to that of central Asia than to that of China, and argues that the idea that Tibet is part of China is a relatively new development.

Based entirely on unpublished primary sources, this remarkable book -the first authoritative history of modern Tibet - is also the first to provide detailed accounts of: * The covert political manoeuverings in Tibet and the role of the Tibetan, Chinese and British governments; * The Dalai Lama's escape in 1959; * The CIA's involvement and the establishment of a secret military base in the Nepalese Himalayas; * The British government lying to the UN and Douglas Hurd's role in that process; * The power struggles during th Cultural Revolution and the mass uprising against the Chinese that has remained secret until now.

“With this memoir by a ‘simple monk’ who spent 33 years in prisons and labor camps for resisting the Chinese, a rare Tibetan voice is heard.” —The New York Times Book Review Palden Gyatso was born in a Tibetan village in 1933 and became an ordained Buddhist monk at eighteen—just as Tibet was in the midst of political upheaval. When Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, it embarked on a program of “reform” that would eventually affect all of Tibet’s citizens and nearly decimate its ancient culture. In 1967, the Chinese destroyed monasteries across Tibet and forced thousands of monks into labor camps and prisons. Gyatso spent the next twenty-five years of his life enduring interrogation and torture simply for the strength of his beliefs. Palden Gyatso’s story bears witness to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the strength of Tibet’s proud civilization, faced with cultural genocide. “To readers of this memoir, however untraveled, Tibet will never again seem remote or unfamiliar. . . . Gyatso reminds us that the language of suffering is universal.” —Library Journal “Has the ring of undeniable truth. . . . Palden Gyatso’s clear-sighted eloquence (in Tsering Shakya’s fluent translation) makes his tale even more engrossing.” —San Francisco Chronicle