Demystifying Tibet

This authoritative view of the history and culture of Tibet comes at a time when this ancient land is in danger of losing its identity under Chinese rule. In a compact narrative account, Lee Feigon examines the country behind the myths to locate the origins of modern Tibet and to sort out its controversial relationship with China. In penetrating the veil of mystery that the West has often constructed over Tibet, he reveals how long and distinguished is its history and how recent is the idea that Tibet is part of China. Tracing this history through Mongol and Manchu rule in China, the advent of nineteenth-century Western imperialism, and the radical and somewhat racist policies of Communist China which have aimed to transform Tibet, Mr. Feigon draws a compelling portrait of one of the world's most remote and exotic locales. In the 1990s, he shows, the Chinese have flooded Tibet with their own people and threaten to reduce the Tibetans to a colorful but submissive minority in their own land. Their success may determine Tibet's freedom and character for the next hundred years.