Kundun: A Biography of the Family of the Dalai Lama [Paperback]

‘Mary Craig’s intelligent and sensitive story… suggests in how extraordinary a way this deeply religious and peaceful people on the roof of the world have become a parable for the end of the twentieth century… .This gripping book tells one of the most painful and dramatic stories of history.
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The Tablet

‘Mary Craig’s book offers both a vivid, human-scale view of a decisive chapter in the Tibetan story and a poignant sense of how it feels for individuals to be marginalized in a history it once seemed they were destined to make.’
The Scotsman

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Here is the story of Tibet as told by its remarkable first family--a story of reincarnation, coronation, heartbreaking exile, and finally the tenacious efforts of a holy man to save a nation and its people.. Kundun is a story of reincarnation, coronation, heartbreaking exile, and finally, the tenacious efforts of a holy man to save a nation and its people. This is the first work to focus on the Dalai Lamas family--his parents, four brothers, and two sisters. Particularly compelling are Mary Craigs portraits of the Dalai Lamas siblings, who have negotiated with China on behalf of their country, enlisted the aid of international allies to spearhead Tibetan Resistance, and worked tirelessly to help thousands of sick and starving refugee children. This remarkable book opens in 1933 with the death of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the frantic effort among Tibetan authorities to find his reincarnation. In their search for a baby boy displaying the characteristic marks of a Dalai Lama--tiger striped legs, wide eyes, large ears, and palms bearing the pattern of a sea shell--officials were led to a tiny village in northeastern Tibet, home of Lhamo Dhondup, a smart, stubborn toddler already known for his tantrums.Responding calmly when a group of high lamas and dignitaries tested his memory of a previous life, the child easily recognized a rosary, walking stick, and drum belonging to the thirteenth Dalai Lama at the age of three, and was known from that point on as His Holiness or Kundun (the Presence), titles even his family members were obliged to use. A few years later the young Dalai Lama and his family were faced with Chinas invasion of Tibet. Living in exile since the late 1950s, they have waged a decades-long struggle for the freedom of their country.Mary Craigs intimate portrayal is the first to focus on the Dalai Lamas family--his parents, four brothers, and two sisters--all of whom have played integral roles in Tibets resistance to Chinese occupation. Particularly compelling are Craigs portraits of the Dalai Lamas siblings, who have negotiated with China on behalf of their country, enlisted the aid of international allies to spearhead Tibetan Resistance and worked tirelessly to help thousands of sick and starving refugee children. Kundun brings new warmth and insight to one of the centurys most heartrending stories, the epic of a people wrenched from their land by force and stubbornly fighting for survival.

No 'rags to riches' story is more remarkable that the tale of how a young Tibetan farmer's son was plucked from obscurity to become the Dalai Lama. Mary Craig's compelling account is the first to portray in detail how his extraordinary destiny affected his parents, four brothers and two sisters. Two-year-old Lhamo Dhondup's life and that of his family changed dramatically as they adjusted to the fact that he was now His Holiness, or Kundun – meaning the Presence – a reincarnation of thirteen previous Dalai Lamas, and the most autonomous spiritual and political ruler of any nation in the world. In later years the family were to lose everything, when China invaded Tibet in 1951, forcing them to flee as exiles to India.

This is the tale of a people wrenched from their land by force, their stubborn fight for survival and their integral role in their country's turbulent history. Mary Craig's vivid and intimate storytelling provides great insight into an epic and heart-rending episode of the twentieth century.

Mary Craig is an author and former broadcaster: Her books include 'Blessings; Man From a Far Country, A Portrait of John Paul II; Candles in the Dark' and 'The Crystal Spirit.' It was during the writing of her critically acclaimed book 'Tears of Blood', chronicling the plight of the Tibetan people after the Chinese invasion, that her friendship with several members of the Dalai Lama's family began.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Mary Craig is a writer, journalist and former broadcaster. Her books include the bestselling Blessings; the portrait of John Paul II in Man From A Far Country; Longford: A Biographical Portrait; Candles in the Dark, about twentieth century martyrs; and Spark From Heaven.
Her highly praised book Tears Of Blood told the story of the fall of Tibet to China, in what amounts to a prequel to Kundun.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.