The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 (Compass) by Tsering Shakya (PDF)

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User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is a classic for anyone who is interested in modern Tibetan political history. Part of the reason why it became a bestseller is not because it is written in an accessible manner for everyone but the careful and balanced treatment of controversial issues involved.

⭐Balanced and insightful

⭐A scholarly history and tale of what really occurred. This book puts China and Tibet into focus for the past 70 years and today.

⭐With his unbiased approach, Shakya is able to weave together a spider web of geopolitical intrigue that in my opinion is one of world history’s most fascinating and least known stories.My copy of the book is beaten up and battered, and highlighted and flagged to a ridiculous degree because it is the decisive book on Tibet’s modern history, and because I’ve used it to teach a course on Tibetan history, and because I’ve had it in my arsenal for years. There are many, many books on the subject of Tibet’s conflict with China and for the most part there is value to be found in each, however, what I appreciate about The Dragon in the Land of Snows is the clear position Shakya took to remain as unbiased a researcher as possible. No small feat given he is Tibetan. The tireless research, the declassified documents from western entities, and his sharp analysis are worth the read if you want to really understand what happened to Tibet.

⭐Tsering Shakya’s account of Tibet since (and shortly before) the Chinese invasion is a fair and open-minded, and well-researched history. At times the writing does become sodden, but Shakya’s presentation of the many forces at work in the sad history of the Chinese occupation of Tibet shows that while China has committed crime upom crime, elements of Tibetan society have aided, abetted and , in some cases, participated Chinese domination and terror. While Tibetan monastic and aristocratic circles come under considerable criticism, one also understands that this was a titanic mismatch to begin with. The international community gets considerable critical coverage, in particular Nehru’s India and Great Britain. The bottom line behind this history is how ill-equipped Tibet was for the cataclysms of the mid- to- late- 20th century, and how their reactions varied. Exhaustive but very readable. If you are interested in Tibet at all, this book is a mandatury palliative to a diet that leans too much on the spiritual side of Tibetan culture and thought.

⭐This book is a bombshell in the literature on Tibet. Not because it should be considered overly controversial or anything of that nature, but because it is so comprehensive in it’s treatment of the historical timeline of Tibet from shortly before the Chinese takeover to the present day. It also adds much new information to a subject that suffers from a considerable lack of scholarly material when compared to other contentious ethnic issues.All of the previous reviewers have it spot-on in that the author has taken pains to be as objective as possible. I think the only way the book suffers may be in that Shakya was so bent on being objective that his writing style comes off a bit bland and laborious, but it certainly gets the job done, and then some.

⭐The thoroughness of this history cannot be doubted. It is a fully detailed history of China’s role in modern Tibet. On this point I must agree with all other reviewers. But someone has to point out that this book is horribly written and horribly edited. Names appear with variant spellings-even on the same page. Sentences begin & go no where. Poor writing & editing make this book a difficult read, particularly for non-scholars who may not be fully familiar with names and events. This book does no credit to an important university press in this regard.

⭐Easy and concise. The myths are removed, and you are presented with a unbais history of Tibet.

⭐I was very impressed with this book. It is one of the few books about modern history that I’ve read which tries to lay out the motivations of both sides in the conflict. That’s not to say that the book does not take a stand – it is firmly pro-Tibet.However, only by understanding the motivations of the Chinese can you understand the why it is that after 50 years of Communist Chinese occupation – three generations, effectively – they have failed to stabilise the situation and wean the Tibetans away from their culture and religion.In laying out the Chinese motivations, and tactical blunders and successes of the Tibetan leadership the author succeeds magnificently. At the end of the book, while the reader’s sympathy will undoubtedly lie with the much abused Tibetans, there will also be an understanding of why the Beijing government has plowed such enormous resources, both human and hard cash, into the area over the past 50 years. Significantly, the reader will also have some idea of the way in which western governments deliberately hindered the attempts by the Tibetans to internationalise their plight.The only very minor criticism I have is that a preliminary chapter giving a brief outline of the history of Tibet prior to 1947 would have been useful. Tibet, a bit like Poland in Europe, seems to be one of those countries that is fated to emerge into history as an independent entity at intervals, only to be seized by one of its more powerful neighbours and vanish again for a while.Highly recommended

⭐good and fast service

⭐”Comprate questo libro che non rappresenta ne il punto di vista di Pechino ne quello di Dharmasala” cosí mi disse il mio professore di Storia Cinese qualche anno fa, e devo dire che parole non furono più veritiere.Quando si parla di Tibet non si parla mai di elementi come i rapporti di Lhasha con India e Gran Bretagna nel lasso di tempo fra la caduta dell’impero e il 1949, la missione dell’ CIA per addestrare la guerriglia tibetana, e come Pechino vedeva tutto ciò quale forma di imperialismo per mano di una classe dirigente tibetana per molti versi ferma nel medioevo…La Storia è sempre complessa e saperlo mette in discussione le nostre posizioni, ci porta a domandarci se saremmo stati dalla parte per cui parteggiamo oggi anche allora … Questo libro (pur con i suoi anni) ti lascia con Molte domande più che risposte, cosa che non a tutti potrebbe piacere, ma la verità non è mai semplice.Cet ouvrage très fouillé sur l’histoire récente du Tibet met en évidence sans angélisme l’accumulation d’erreurs (de la part des Chinois comme des Tibétains) qui a conduit à la colonisation du Tibet par la République Populaire de Chine. L’auteur développe avec minutie les moindres péripéties diplomatiques, ce qui fait que l’ouvrage sera moins accessible au grand public que les synthèses généralistes qu’on trouve par ailleurs en Europe. Mais ce qu’il perd ainsi en lisibilité, il le gagne en impartialité.Même si l’auteur semble pencher plutôt pour le camp Tibétain, ce qui est plutôt normal compte tenu de ses origines (il est Tibétain), il s’efforce de conserver le ton le plus neutre possible pour relater les événements, et maintient un effort constant pour tenter de comprendre ce qui motiva les actions des Tibétains comme des Chinois. En la matière, l’impact de la la politique intérieure chinoise et des luttes de pouvoir au sein du parti communiste chinois sont évidemment majeurs. Mais les décideurs tibétains portent aussi une lourde responsabilité dans les événements relatés. Bref, personne ne sort vraiment indemne de ce récit.On ne peut que regretter qu’aucune nouvelle édition de ce texte n’ait été publiée, car l’auteur interrompt son récit dans les années 1990. Or, depuis, le Tibet a connu d’importantes transformations, qui mériteraient d’être traitées avec ce niveau de rigueur.C’est d’autant plus essentiel que la République Populaire a durci sa position vis à vis de ses “minorités” et de toute forme de liberté, à vrai dire. Il est des plus ironique de constater qu’un pays qui ressasse à tout bout de champ sa rancune contre des “Traités inégaux” abrogés depuis plus d’un siècle, et qui présente l’Occident comme “impérialiste”, se livre aujourd’hui aux pires abus coloniaux (au Tibet et au Xinjiang) et aux pires dérives impérialistes (revendications territoriales et coups de force dans les iles Spratley, menaces d’invasion de Taiwan, etc …), le tout en se prévalant d’une culture “millénaire” que le PCC a en réalité historiquement tout fait pour éradiquer (à travers la Révolution Culturelle, notamment). Dans ce contexte, connaitre l’histoire de Chine, de l’Extrême Orient et de l’Asie Centrale devient essentiel pour ne pas se laisser embobiner par la propagande souvent maladroite, de cette puissance impérialiste.Les ouvrages de la qualité de “Dragon in the Land of Snow” nous donnent à tous des outils pour résister aux mensonges et à la novlangue de la RPC, tout en faisant preuve de ce dont cette dernière est aujourd’hui incapable, à savoir une approche nuancée et intelligente de l’histoire.I wanted to read this book for the longest time and ordered it finally. But when I received the book, I am bit disappointed with the quality of the cover paper and the pages in general. Doesn’t live up to the money I spent and it looks like copied version mostly sold on streets.

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