an unfinished story Halper, Lezlee Brown creator Halper, Stefan A. author. text bibliography enk New York Oxford University Press 2014 monographic eng

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367 p. : ill. "The mythologising of Tibet in the West and the Himalyan state's subsequent abandonment to China are recounted in this briskly-paced and revealing new history"-- "Tibet's enduring myth, animated by the tales of Himalayan adventurers, British military expeditions, and the novel, Lost Horizon, remains an inspirational fantasy, a modern morality play about the failure of brutality to subdue the human spirit. Tibet also exercises immense 'soft power' as one of the lenses through which the world views China. This book traces the origins and manifestations of the Tibetan myth, as propagated by Younghusband, Madam Blavatsky, Himmler, Acheson and Roosevelt. The authors discuss how, after WW2, Tibet-- isolated, misunderstood and with a tiny elite unschooled in political-military realities--misread the diplomacy between its two giant neighbours, India and China, forlornly hoping London or Washington might intervene. China's People's Liberation Army sought nothing less than to deconstruct traditional Tibet, unseat the Dalai Lama and 'absorb' this vast region into the People's Republic, and Lhasa succumbed to China's invasion in 1950. Drawing on declassified CIA and Chinese documents, the authors reveal Mao's collusion with Stalin to subdue Tibet, double-dealing by Nehru, the brilliant diplomacy of Chou en Lai and how Washington see-sawed between the China lobby, who insisted there be no backing for an independent Tibet, and Presidents Truman and later Eisenhower, who initiated a covert CIA programme to support the Dalai Lama and resist Chinese occupation. It is an ignoble saga with few, if any, heroes, other than ordinary Tibetans"-- HKBU Library Lezlee Brown Halper, Stefan Halper. Myth Political aspects History 20th century World politics 1945-1989 POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Nationalism HISTORY / Asia / Central Asia Tibet Autonomous Region (China) History 1951- Tibet Autonomous Region (China) Foreign relations 20th century Tibet Autonomous Region (China) Foreign public opinion, Western Tibet Autonomous Region (China) Strategic aspects India Foreign relations China China Foreign relations India United States Foreign relations 1945-1953 United States Foreign relations 1953-1961 DS786 H195 T 2014 9780199368365 SDU 140131