Description
Foreword by The Dalai Lama
A poignant oral history of China’s violent invasion and conquest of Tibet—told, for the first time, by Tibetans themselves.
Communist China’s violent conquest of Tibet has been narrated by outsiders. Here, Tibetans relate their own experiences—page-turning, eyewitness testimonies of a terrifying and extraordinary struggle for survival.
From 2007 to 2017, the authors recorded over 300 interviews with Tibetan refugees scattered across the world. In this book, they weave together eighteen of those stories. The result is a vivid and deeply personal history of China’s systematic assault on Tibetan culture, traditions and ways of life as Mao Zedong’s armies swept through the isolated plateau. From the 1949 Chinese Revolution to the present, they offer a moving ground-level account of the brutal invasion and subjugation of Tibet—forced sterilisations, executions and torture, mass displacement, and the destruction of thousands of Buddhist monasteries. But this is also a tale of resistance and resilience: of the monks, nomads and traders who took up arms to defend themselves; of the refugees who found solace in their faith to cope with the loss of their homeland; and of the diaspora Tibetans campaigning for justice today.
With China still occupying Tibet, and sharply escalating repression at home and abroad, this is the devastating and inspiring story of the Tibetan people’s ongoing fight to be free.
- Drawing on over 300 interviews, tells eighteen stories from Tibetan refugees across the world and features gripping eyewitness testimonies of an extraordinary struggle for survival
- Offers a deeply personal account of China's systemic assault on the Tibetan culture, traditions and ways of life
- The plight of the Tibetan people continues to this day
- Includes photos of all those interviewed