Dragon in the Land of Snows: a History of Modern Tibet since 1947 Compass: Amazon.co.uk: Tsering Shakya: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

You can't help feeling that ever since luvvies like Richard Gere got involved with the Free Tibet campaign that the debate has become hopelessly simplistic. The Tibetans can do no wrong and the Chinese can do no right. As a very rough guide to the current situation this sort of summary will do, but it gives no hint of the nuances of a complicated and tortuous history. And so most people are left with little or no sense of how the present-day situation in Tibet arose.

1999 marks the 40th anniversary of the National Uprising when the Tibetan people rebelled against the Chinese forces that had occupied their country since 1950. Thousands of Tibetans were killed in the failed revolt and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, fled to India from Lhasa with 80,000 supporters. So an informed, detailed and balanced account from a Tibetan historian is a breath of fresh air. Shakya cuts through the myths that both sides have created to feed their political ends. Tibetan culture wasn't the happy Shangri-La prior to the Chinese invasion that many Tibetans claim. It was a land dominated by a feudal elite who kept many people in serfdom; however there was also much of value in the Tibetan culture that the Chinese have done so much to destroy.

Tibet and China go back a long way: Tibetans believe their land to be an independent state; the Chinese believe Tibet has always been part of China. Tibet has been under Chinese rule at various points over the last 1,000 years, and it was only with the Chinese revolution of 1911 that Tibet finally freed itself from Chinese control. The Chinese have steadily strengthened their hold on Tibet since they invaded in 1950 through a series of repressive measures against Tibetan nationals which the International Committee of Jurists concluded constituted a prima facie case of genocide. They have also encouraged many Chinese to move to Tibet: Tibetans call this a process of "sinification" via the back-door: the Chinese say that the Tibetans are not culturally in tune with modern economic policies.

And so it goes on. The two countries cannot even agree on what constitutes Tibet. The Tibetan government in Lhasa had ceded Kham and Amdo prior to 1950 and ruled over what is now known as the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Tibetan government in exile wants Kham and Amdo included in all discussions on Tibet's future. China does not. Shakya is no fence-sitter. Like most right minded people he believes the Tibetans to have the better claim, but his strength is that he allows the arguments to speak for themselves rather than get carried away by sloganism and partiality. If there were more people like Shakya, there might--just might--be an end to the deadlock in prospect. --John Crace --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

An ocean of new material is presented from previously unpublished sources, making this the most significant entrant into the field of recent Tibetan history since Melvyn Goldstein's Snow Lion and the Dragon. Tricycle An important book that will encourage further research and discussion about Tibet. Choice He has employed thorough research, a balanced view and a dispassionate tone in writing a tremendously informative, definitive history of his native land. -- Steven Mufson Washington Post Dragon in the Land of Snows will undoubtedly take its place as the indispensable account of modern Tibetan history... Shakya informs it with a cool and rigorous historical mind, with which he cuts through the thickets of polemic on both sides. Literary Review A sober, factual, excellently researched, and surprisingly impartial account of the end of old Tibet. The Spectator At last, the history of Tibet we have been waiting for. It will irritate both Chinese and Tibetan chauvinists as it explodes their myths, misunderstandings, and propaganda. Tsering Shakya, a Western-trained Tibetan, has sensitively used Western, Chinese, and Tibetan sources to get nearer than anyone to the truth of Tibet's last fifty tragic years. -- Jonathan Mirsky A prodigious work of scholarship... The clearest picture yet of this period. This book will become a standard text. Sunday Telegraph Superbly well-research and written. -- Orville Schell Los Angeles Times Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

Excellent, but some quibbles 18 July 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

A much-needed account of Tibet's tragic history since the Chinese invasion. Meticulously reseached and organised, it is especially strong on the political battle of wills between the Chinese and Tibetans in the uneasy period up to 1959 and on the bravery of the Panchen Lama in the 60s and 70s. As someone who has visited Tibet and read a number of books on its past, this has come as a welcome infusion of balance and objectivity. And now the quibbles. The author's grimly unsentimental style is at a particular disadvantage in the dry episodes dealing with the United Nations. And, while his objectivity is largely to be commended, little or no mention is made of the well-documented and routinely brutal treatment of Tibetan prisoners. Instead the author merely talks about 'paramilitary measures'. The methods used by the police and army in Tibet seem to me to be germane to a history of the region. The maps at the front of the book, while useful, do not appear to have been prepared with the text in mind. So many of the towns, villages and regions mentioned by the author simply do not appear on the maps. Finally there should have been a short chapter explaining a little about what Tibet was like before 1949. However, I'm quibbling here. To use a reviewers' cliche - this should become the standard text, if it isn't already.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

A very comprehensive study of modern Tibet 12 April 1999

This book provides a very comprehensive and thought-provoking review of the situation in Tibet. Whilst written from the perspective of one of the Tibetans who left Tibet, the author is at pains to balance his perspective, taking into account and explaining the position of the Chinese government where ever possible. He illustrates the fact that the argument is never as simple as any of the main protagonists seek to paint it. He explains the issues briefly, but effectively, and then chronicles and explains the events well, not being afraid to voice his opinion where they are called for. The research involved is formidable, but he does not use it to overwhelm the reader, but to illuminate the narrative.

The only problem with the book is understanding the first few chapters, as the book launches into a discussion of Tibetan politics in the period up to the Chinese invasion (or resumption of control) without any real attempt to explain any of the terms used. For example, it took me several pages to work out what the Norbulingka is/was. As a novice to Tibetan politics a foreword or better footnotes would have been useful. The editor could have also done a bit more with the prose style, which is a bit stilted in parts.

These criticisms are, however, minor in terms of the book as a whole. It is very good as a place to start to understand the complexity of the issues involved in modern Tibet, either as the basis for further study or just to understand why the situation is as it is. To paraphrase the old cliche 'If you buy only one book on Tibet, make it this one.'

A worthy and compelling read.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

Very Readable Essential Reading 6 Aug 2002

As a member of the reading public who is not a Tibet expert I found this fantastically well researched history hugely informative and surprisingly readable. Having read 'Freedom in Exile' (HH the D.L's autobiography) first this detailed history was more possible to follow and gave me greater understanding of the Chinese perspective. The most memorable section of the book for me is learning how the world did absolutely nothing when China walked into a country unable to defend itself. The British Government was particularly pathetic in her refusal to stand up to China and was guilty of gross hypocrisy in having seemingly forgotten a former relationship with an independent Tibet. Hugely important reading. Well worth the effort of 448 pages.