Recommended Reading

• Tears of Blood -- a cry for Tibet, by Mary Craig, is a riveting and distressing account of the Tibetan experience since the Chinese takeover.
• John Avedon's In Exile from the Land of Snows is largely an account of the Tibetan community in Dharamsala, but is an excellent and informative read.
• For those with an academic bent, look out for Civilised Shamans -- Buddhism in Tibetan Societies by Geoffrey Samuel, a fascinating anthropological investigation into the nature of Tibetan Buddhism and its relationship with the indigenous Bön faith.
• Keith Dowman's new The Sacred Life of Tibet builds on his earlier The Power Places of Central Tibet and provides an excellent insight into how Tibetans see the spiritual landscape of their land.
• The enduring myth of Shangri-la owes much to James Hilton's 1937 classic novel Lost Horizon, which tells the story of a group of westerners who crash land into an earthly paradise somewhere in remotest Tibet.
• One unusual book that might be worth checking out is Invading Tibet, a novel by Mark Frutkin based on the story of Edmund Chandler, the journalist who accompanied Younghusband's British invasion of Tibet in 1904.
• Another illuminating glimpse of the Tibetan experience is provided by Freedom in Exile -- the autobiography of the Dalai Lama. With great humility the Dalai Lama outlines his personal philosophy, his hope to be reunited with his homeland and the story of his life.
• In Seven Years in Tibet Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer tells the story of his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp via the Himalayas, and his subsequent friendship with the Dalai Lama in Tibet before the Chinese invasion.
• Peter Hopkirk's Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet, details the pre- and post-invasion history of Tibet.
• Kingdoms beyond the Clouds, by Jonathan Gregson is a delightful and thought-provoking read about the Himalayn kingdoms and Tibet.
• Tsering Shakya's The Dragon in the Land of Snows sheds some light on therecent history of Tibet. A must-read.
• Last but not least the ultra tome for the adventurous traveler: Victor Chan's Tibet Handbook.