In July 1903, a British expedition secretly entered the forbidden land of Tibet, which was off limits to Europeans. Their journey was an adventure through an ancient, storied, war-torn land, and this is the firsthand account, first published in 1905, of the mission's "cultural expert. " From the expedition's treacherous crossing of the Himalayas to its bitter wintering in a land of frosted landscapes, from encounters with the Tibetan army to meetings with monks and sorcerers, this is a rousing account of travels through a legendary, magic-infused place, one that offers a gripping personal eye on the turn-of-the-20th-century political chess match of intrigue and espionage played on the gameboard of the Near East that Kipling termed the "Great Game. " Complete with numerous photos, illustrations, charts, and informative appendices, this is a must-reading for anyone fascinated by the mysterious realm of Tibet. British archaeologist and Orientalist LAURENCE AUSTINE WADDELL (1854-1938) also wrote The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (1894) and Among the Himalayas (1899).
