Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows

For many Westerners, Tibet is the land of Shangri-la, the Big Yeti, the Dalai Lama and the snowy Himalayas and, at present, a country under Chinese rule. This dense, scholarly book offers a more realistic portrait of the vast, complex religious state, which is bigger than Europe and has a history of influence and entanglement in East Asian affairs. Feigon (China Rising: The Meaning of Tiananmen), a history professor at Colby College in Maine, is at pains to contradict the Chinese claim to it as an historically integral part of China. Instead, he presents Tibet as a distinct race, culture and sovereign state. To do so, he examines minutely the Chinese-Tibetan relationship. Although his strong bias is often obtrusive, the scholarship of this comprehensive study supports it. He gives a fine account of the country's history, government, politics, geology, language, religion and customs. Especially vivid is his picture of present-day Lhasa, permeated by the odor of yak oil, dominated by the Dalai Lama's stunning Potala Palace, its streets filled with pilgrims, tourists, wild dogs and despised Chinese. (Jan.)