In Exile From The Land Of Snows: The Definitive Account Of The Dalai Lama And Tibet Since The Chinese Conquest (1997) - Plot & Excerpts
China since Deng Xiaoping has been a fast growing and somewhat prosperous authoritarian state. Before Deng under Mao it was a chamber of horrors as bad as any in the 20th century (great leap forward, anti-rightist rectification campaign, Cultural revolution). This history can be found in any relatively unbiased source. Tibet was an independent country which had little introduction with modernity until 1959 when China "liberated" it. The first half of the book covers the exile of the Dalai Lama in 1959 and his travails as the voice of a once independent Tibet. We are introduced to many aspects of Tibetan Buddhism and Medicine. The author I should note in strangely credulous of Tibetan alternative medicine but that is an unfortunate minor digression. The second half of the book describes the extremely brutal nature of China's rule over Tibet up to 1984 which is appalling. As bad as things were for the Chinese under Mao they were world's worse for the Tibetans. The destruction of Tibetan society accompanied with a large body count only got a little better with Deng and his successors. Good to keep in mind when we reflect on the U.S. trading partner.
My mother highly recommended this book, and I did want to know more about Tibet in light of the Olympics and all. However, I could not get into this book. It was far to detailed for me, practically telling the history of Tibet on a day-to-day basis. I need a much bigger picture.Aside from being too detailed for me, the writing was lovely and the story was compassionately told. I think if I had been able to sit down to read for larger blocks of time I would have enjoyed it more. Perhaps I'll try again when I retire.
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