A history of modern Tibet. Volume 2, The calm before the storm, 1951-1955 /
Calm before the storm
Melvyn C. Goldstein.
- Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007.
- xxx, 639 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
- Philip E. Lilienthal Book in Asian studies .
- Philip E. Lilienthal book. .
"A Philip E. Lilienthal book"--Prelim. p. Continues: A history of modern Tibet, 1913-1951 : the demise of the Lamaist state / Melvyn C. Goldstein ; with the help of Gelek Rimpoche.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 583-604) and index.
Tibetan Society on the eve of incorporation into China -- The road to a Sino-Tibetan agreement -- The first two years: confrontation and adjustment -- Cooperation and change.
This is an excellent, illuminating book, in line with Goldstein's preceding volume. It is both superbly researched and highly readable, thanks to the author's admirable capacity to weave significan not quotations and documents into his narrative. This said, a couple of issues may be raised. 1st and almost all important, in analyzing this chunk of Tibetan history Goldstein adopts a consistent approach, reflecting his views. This is fully acceptable, however sometimes1gets the impression that the author's perspective has become static and schematic, as if he had partially lost his previous sensitivity to the events on the ground. The previous volume's extraordinarily vivid image of Lhasa's life and society is no longer there and the author seems to have become somewhat estranged from Tibetan mentality. Second, while it is impossible for anyone to fully grasp the complexity of Tibetan life and culture, Goldstein's relative indifference to its essential religious dimension is quite apparent here.