The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama

"Conversations with the Dalai Lama" covers 9 years of in-depth meetings that the author had with the present Dalai Lama of Tibet about the history of that country. I found it so engrossing and wanted to share so much of it with you that I littered the pages with pieces of paper and finally resorted to dog-earing this poor copy in my hands. What a great project for one man of greatness and a sound background in history and life in Asia to undertake. He had the total confidence of the Dalai Lama and his insights and comments about how the Dalai Lama lives now is extremely interesting and helpful in understanding the man. I found this to be more helpful than anything I have read so far and recommend it without reservation to everyone reading this now!

This book is a fabulous source for any one interested in Tibet, it's history, culture, as well as the situation today. The scope is so broad that it reflects on the history of all of Asia.

I read this book a week after going to Tibet for the first time in October, 2007. It confirmed everything that I experienced in Tibet with a former monk as the guide for our group of 20 (China Focus Tours), and enriched our experience enormously. I'm glad I read it soon after the trip so the place names, experiences, history and relationship with China were so fresh. We had been warned in China not to ask about or comment on politics or religion while we were in Tibet. I did ask one mild question and got a reply from our guide that clearly told me that he could not respond. The book will probably tell general readers more than they want to know about the intricacies of the changes of rule over the last fourteen hundred years but it helped me understand the richness of Tibetan Buddhism. I found it well written and fascinating throughout. The author clearly has a pro-Dalai Lama bias (how else could he have arranged the many interviews with the Dalai Lama?). We found China to be virulently anti-Dalai Lama and this book helped me understand that. The personal details of the Dalai Lama's life and the lives of his predecessors gave me a full sense of what it has meant to be Tibetan both recently and in the long history. We knew that China had changed Tibet enormously in recent years but we were astounded on our visit to see how they have been moving Han Chinese into Lhasa and changing the face of Tibet. "The Story of Tibet" helped us understand how the incursion of China since the 50's has changed the culture that visitors will see--as long as the Tibetans aren't completely submerged by the Chinese. It seems about 50/50 now. Brief visits to Sera Monastery with our ex-monk guide who had lived there 14 years, to Jokhang Temple when no other tourists were there and to a non-tourist village outside Lhasa during harvest helped me understand the Tibetan culture described well in "The Story of Tibet." I also recommend Tsering Shakya's "The Dragon in the Land of Sorrow" for a very detailed history of Tibet since 1947. "The Story of Tibet" covers in 65 pages and much less detail what Tsering Shakya describes much more fully in 450 pages. We learned while we were in Tibet that the Potala Palace will be closed next year before the Olympics in Beijing, probably permanently. A new museum is being built at the base of the Potala that will show visitors what the Chinese government wants them to know about Tibetan Buddhism and this marvelous building. We were there in early October, 2007. Go now.The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947

Thomas Laird's latest book is a pleasure to read. It successfully juggles history, legend and the thoughts of the present day Dalai Lama for an entertaining and enlightening view of Tibet. The Story of Tibet is more than a survey of a civilization, a tale of a lost country, an interview with a living moral compass, a cautionary tale and a primer on Tibetan Buddhism. It is also a story of the personal relationship between the author and the greatest spiritual figure of our time. The Dalai Lama has an openess to the interpretation of history and the discoveries of modern research and science that is non-dogmatic and hopeful. It is really inspiring to see how willing His Holiness is to letting go of past belief systems when there is experiential, tangible evidence to the contrary. If only the other world leaders could except change so graciously.

History throughout the ages has usually been told through conversations and discussion. But then specialists got into the act and the stories dried up but were written in tomes with endless footnotes and arcane language. What if a non-specialist teamed up with a critical modern stakeholder? The result is The Story of Tibet as related by His Holiness The Dalai Lama to Thomas Laird, a Tibetophile who spent many years in Nepal and has traveled through Tibet. The region holds a special place in the hearts, minds and spirits of many in the West. Free Tibet bumper stickers abound. His Holiness admits he knows little history and Laird has done some homework prodding from a Western perspective and the two carry on face-to-face discussions over a few years. The book is entertaining and readable in its chatty style. Alas, it isn't a people's history, the genre that began with Zinn's classic People's History of the United States and a soon to be released People's History of the Third World. Meanwhile this glimpse of the storied mountain realm is well worth reading.