So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas by Barbara Crossette

Product Details

Synopsis

For more than a thousand years Tibet, Sikkim, Ladakh, and Bhutan were the santuaries of Tantric Buddhism. But in the last half of this century, geopolitics has scoured the landscape of the Himalayas, and only the reclusive kingdom of Bhutan remains true to Tantric Buddhism. As she travels through Bhutan and its neighbots, Crossette introduces readers to a world that has emerged from the middle ages only to find itself peering into the abyss of modernity.

Annotation

From its stories of the first explorers to penetrate the mountain valleys at the roof of the world to its poignant descriptions of a Buddhist universe slipping toward extinction, Barbara Crossette's book brings vividly to life these exotic kingdoms of the Himalayas. 16 photos. 1 map.

Publishers Weekly

Journalist Crossette visits the last remaining strongholds of Tantric Buddhism, examining the ways this culture has preserved its uniqueness amidst the homogenizing influences of contemporary geopolitics. (July)

Biography

Barbara Crossette, who joined The New York Times in 1973, spent seven years as a correspondent in Asia, and is now UN bureau chief. She was a Fulbright Professor of Journalism in India and has taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and at Princeton University. She won the 1991 George Polk Award for foreign reporting. She lives in New York City and Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania.