On the evening of March 17; 1959; as the people of Tibet braced for a violent power grab by Chinese occupiers—one that would forever wipe out any vestige of national sovereignty—the twenty-four-year-old Dalai Lama; Tibet’s political and spiritual leader; contemplated the impossible. The task before him was immense: to slip past a cordon of crack Chinese troops ringing his summer palace and; with an escort of 300; journey across the highest terrain in the world and over treacherous Himalayan passes to freedom—one step ahead of pursuing Chinese soldiers.Mao Zedung; China’s ruthless Communist dictator; had pinned his hopes for total Tibetan submission on controlling the impressionable Dalai Lama. So beloved was the young ruler—so identified with his country’s essence—that for him to escape might mean perpetual resistance from a population unwilling to tolerate an increasingly brutal occupation. The Dalai Lama’s minders sent word to the Tibetan rebels and CIA-trained guerrillas who waited on the route: His Holiness must escape—at all costs.In many ways; the 14th Dalai Lama; Tenzin Gyatso; was unprepared for the epic journey awaiting him. Twenty-two years earlier; government search parties; guided by prophecies and omens; had arrived at the boy’s humble peasant home and subjected the two-year-old to a series of tests. After being declared the reincarnation of Tibet’s previous ruler; the boy was brought to Lhasa to learn the secrets of Buddhism and the ways of ultimate power. Forced in the ensuing two decades to cope with aching loneliness and often stifling ritual—and compelled to suppress his mischievous personality—Gyatso eventually proved himself a capable leader. But no previous Dalai Lama had ever taken on a million Communist Chinese soldiers bent on stamping out Tibetan freedom.To keep his country’s dream of independence alive by means of a government in exile; the young ruler would not only have to brave battalions of enemy soldiers and the whiteout conditions waiting on the slopes of the Himalayas’ highest peaks; he’d have to overcome a different type of blindness: the naïveté intrinsic to his sheltered palace life and his position as leader of a people who considered violence deeply taboo. His mind made up; the young Dalai Lama set off on his audacious journey to India while behind him a Chinese army rolled over Lhasa; its advance hunter patrols in fierce pursuit of the man they most coveted. The 14th’s escape was an act of daring and defiance that represented Tibet’s last hope; and so the world watched; transfixed; as the gentle monk’s journey unfolded. Emotionally powerful and irresistibly page-turning; Escape from the Land of Snows is simultaneously a portrait of the inhabitants of a spiritual nation forced to take up arms in defense of their ideals; and the saga of an initially childlike ruler who at first wore his monk’s robes uncomfortably but was ultimately transformed by his escape into the towering figure the world knows today—a charismatic champion of free thinking and universal compassion.From the Hardcover edition.
#53368 in Books David Hoffman 2010-08-03 2010-08-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x 1.20 x 5.20l; 1.23 #File Name: 0307387844608 pagesThe Dead Hand The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy
Review
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Well-Written and Incredibly Timely and ImportantBy Kindle CustomerAnyone hoping to opine intelligently on Obama's current efforts at nuclear reduction needs to read this book first.It is a deeply researched; well-written look at Reagan and Gorby's efforts to eliminate nuclear arms; along with fascinating; newly-discovered material on the Soviet chemical and biological weapons programs.I personally was unaware the extent to which Reagan was devoted to the elimination of all nuclear arms -- he was deeply affected by ABC's The Day After; and immediately began to write notes to Soviet leaders in an effort to engage them on nuclear arms issues.Unfortunately; his successor Bush I and his team -- including Cheney -- were distrustful of Gorbachev and set Reagan's efforts back (although Sam Nunn and James Baker were instrumental in securing loose weaponry after the fall of the Soviet Union).The book ends with very practical; timely suggestions for what can be done now to reduce the nuclear threat -- including taking our devices off of "fire-ready" status.I hope our leaders are listening.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Be glad we had Reagan and Gorby!By Roadstar05I recommend this book to anyone who studies the Cold War. I was fascinated by this book. "Fascinated" is really not the word...amazed; horrified; creepy. Those are words more appropriate to the contents of this work as it relates to the Soviet biological and chemical warfare industry and the efforts to conceal the magnitude of the programs from all countries as well as its own citizens. Somehow; the nuclear aspects of the book pale in comparison to the stuff about germs and gases. How downright weird is that? I suppose it's the diabolical nature of the bio and gas weapons that freak me out; whereas; the nuclear weapons capabilities of the USSR seem more straight forward and somehow more comprehensible. Nukes were far more immediately fatal to us here in America and to our allies. However; the other stuff this criminal regime was planning to use on us was designed to kill the entire population as opposed to destroying our ability to retaliate against them.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating; in-depth review of the latter days of the Cold WarBy Robert M.I really enjoyed reading this book. The author did a great job of reviewing a lot of sources; including interviews with key players on both the US and Soviet side; and wove many threads together into a thorough; and thoroughly enjoyable story. As noted in some of the editorial reviews; at times it feels like you're reading a spy novel. And at times some of the details - particularly about the Soviet's germ warfare program - sound almost too lurid to be true. Except that everything in this book is impeccably documented - the bibliography takes up about 15% of the book.Roughly the first two thirds of the book are concerned primarily with the 1980s; from the start of the Reagan presidency; through the rise of Gorbachev; and the beginning of co-operation between the two sides on arms reduction; through Gorbachev's decline and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. The final third deals with the post-Soviet era; through about 2000. I was born in 1975; so the earlier events described in the book were things that were going on as I was growing up. For example; I remember the news reports of the Korean airliner being shot down by the Russians. I remember the German kid who flew a single-engine plane to Red Square in Moscow. I remember that my parents didn't let me watch "The Day After". I remember prime-time news specials describing the "Star Wars" missile defense. But as a kid; I didn't know the real significance of any of this stuff; and of course many of the details were classified at the time. This book covers all that and more; and it's fascinating to go back and read what was going on behind the scenes during my childhood.The author is very balanced in his approach. Reagan comes off surprisingly well; given how he is often portrayed as an imbecile. In this book; he comes across as an idealist; striving for a world without nuclear weapons; yet rather naive about how his strident rhetoric and plans for missile defense were perceived by the paranoid leadership of the Soviet Union; and for a while accelerated the arms race instead of slowing it down. Gorbachev also comes across well; a reformer surrounded by aging dinosaurs in the Communist party and an entrenched military industrial complex. But the author is by no means an apologist for the Soviet Union. There's a section toward the end of the book that sums it up well - a US official is investigating a mothballed Soviet-era biological weapons plant. He had never bought into the whole "evil empire" rhetoric. But staring down into a giant fermenter capable of producing tons of anthrax; meant to be delivered by strategic missiles to wipe out the survivors of a nuclear strike; he realizes he is staring into the face of evil.Lots of fascinating and terrifying stuff. The descriptions of plutonium pits and highly enriched uranium spilling out the windows of poorly guarded warehouses; and being transported on creaky rail cars; or the test-tubes of weaponized plague being found in an empty tin of peas; are of course scary. And the decreased cooperation of Putin-era Russia leaves a lot of unanswered questions. There are still former bioweapons sites that Russia has never granted access to. The book paints a picture of some of these programs having lives of their own; in spite of the best intentions of the leadership. So who knows what might still be lurking in the shadows.Minor drawbacks were (1) the author has a tendency to jump back and forth between strands of the story; i.e. from nuclear arms reduction talks; to the bioweapons story; in a somewhat distracting way; and (2) the author feels the need to keep reminding us who certain characters are; I guess because an American reader will get confused by all the Russian names. But for example; he keeps reminding us that a certain Gorbachev aide was the one he had a stirring conversation with during a walk in the woods in Canada.But overall - very well written; impeccably researched and documented; and a great read.
