Dragon In The Land Of Snows: The History of Modern Tibet since 1947 - Couverture souple

The Dragon in the Land of Snows is the definitive history of modern Tibet. It shatters the popular perception of Tibet as an isolated Shangri-La, unaffected by larger international developments. It shows how the British withdrawal from India altered the balance of power in the region and left Tibet vulnerable to the newly emergent powers of Asia, India and China.

Tibet made desperate attempts to maintain her independence. On the one hand she pursued a policy of co-existence with Communist China and on the other tried to preserve her unique identity as a Buddhist state under the rule of the Dalai Lama. The determination of China to unify Tibet with the 'motherland' and the American determination to contain Communism brought the country firmly into the arena of the Cold War.

Drawing on a wealth of archival and oral sources, Tsering Shakya tells, for the first time, the full story of the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet in 1959. He provides the first complete account of CIA involvement in Tibet; of how the British government misled the United Nations; of the internal power struggles during the Cultural Revolution; of the previously secret uprising against the Chinese; and of negotiations between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government.

Tsering Shakya was born in Tibet in 1959. In 1967, with the onslaught of the Cultural Revolution, his family fled to India. Following secondary education in England he went to the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University and in 1982 graduated with BA Hons in History and Social Anthropology.

Over the last ten years Tsering Shakya has regularly briefed politicians on Tibet at the Foreign Office and the European Parliament. He has written numerous articles, taken part in television and radio discussions, and is frequently consulted on Tibetan matters by the BBC, The Times the Observer and the Guardian. In addition to his work as a journalist, broadcaster, researcher and adviser he is the author of Fire Under the Snow: The Testimony of a Tibetan Prisoner (1997).

In recognition of his work in 1997 Tsering Shakya was awarded a four-year Research Fellowship in Tibetan Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies.