Tibet’s Last Stand? The Tibetan Uprising of 2008 and China’s Response

This deeply knowledgeable book offers the first sustained analysis of the 2008 uprising in Tibet, which revealed much about Tibetan nationalism and even more about Chinese nationalism. Retracing the complex history between China and Tibet, noted expert Warren Smith describes the uprising itself and explores its broader significance for Chinese-Tibetan relations. He sharply critiques China’s use of heavy-handed propaganda to recast the uprising and obscure its origins and significance. The book convincingly shows that far from becoming more lenient in response to Tibetan discontent, China has determined to eradicate Tibetan opposition internally and coerce the international community to conform to China’s version of Tibetan history and reality.

Reviews

Tibet’s Last Stand? is the first book-length discussion of the 150 or so protests that took place in Tibet in 2008. Using clear, accessible language, Warren Smith offers a detailed summary of the protests that took place and especially of the responses of the security forces and politicians to unrest, together with extensive ethical and political commentaries by the author. –Robert J. Barnett, Columbia University

A lucid, comprehensive, and insightful account of the 2008 uprising in Tibet. Smith’s impressive analysis of the causes of the uprising is surpassed only by his detailed examination of the consequences of that eruption: the resurgence of Tibetan nationalism, the brutal Chinese crackdown and the collapse of the Dalai Lama’s negotiation attempts with Beijing. It is a must read for those concerned about the fate of Tibet. The book takes on special significance in the wake of the similar conflict in Xinjiang in 2009, providing useful insight into the future of China’s colonial empire. –Jamyang Norbu, author of The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes

Warren W. Smith Jr. has emerged as the preeminent writer on Tibetan history and Sino-Tibetan relations. His newest work solidifies that position by offering the most comprehensive account available of Tibet’s resistance during the buildup to the Beijing Olympics–an uprising that challenged China’s claim that it has a legitimate right to colonize and suppress the Tibetan people. Smith relates Beijing’s paranoid reaction to the uprising in fascinating detail. Anyone who is interested in the Tibetan issue or the nature of modern Chinese nationalism must read Tibet’s Last Stand?, a seminal and mesmerizing book. –Mikel Dunham, author of Buddha’s Warriors

“The most informative and fair account available of China’s occupation of Tibet and its consequences. . . . Open-minded readers of whatever opinion about China and Tibet will find much to learn from Tibet’s Last Stand, and may even change their minds. . . . This is a revealing and honest book. . . . Tibetans are unlikely ever to achieve their independence, Dr. Smith concludes, `but they retain the right to write their own history.’ This he says–and he is a great champion–must be the role of Tibetans in exile and their friends. . . . I believe that will be the judgment of many attentive readers of this invaluable book.” –Hong Kong Economic Journal

“A useful, detailed account of the 2008 demonstrations, the official response, and surrounding events. . . . Readers will gain a clear idea of the Chinese position on Tibet and of Beijing’s strategy in the region: a combination of Han immigration, economic development, assimilation, repression, and waiting for the Dalai Lama to die.” –Foreign Affairs

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by Warren W. Smith Jr.

Anyone who is a Tibet activist, a serious student of Tibetan Buddhism, or a history buff will find Smith’s book indispensable. What is truly fresh and original in China’s Tibet?–and reveals Smith at his most penetrating and disturbing– is his analysis of China’s greatest propaganda successes. The tug of war between recorded fact and historical revisionism, autonomy and assimilation, Tibetan Buddhist culture and Chinese real estate, will continue while the rest of the world looks on from the sidelines. In the meantime, we should be very grateful that Warren Smith has kept a superb scorecard for us.

Reviews

Smith has extensive living experience in the region and does his research with great care….Recommended. –Choice, November 2008

This is a landmark study of China’s efforts to fully subsume Tibet and to rewrite Tibetan history to conform to this official reality. Smith’s dispassionate, critical, and detailed account makes clear China’s goal of complete assimilation and the futility of the Dalai Lama’s policy to seek some kind of ‘meaningful autonomy’ for his country. –Jamyang Norbu, author of The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes

“In seven fluid chapters, the book covers recent Tibetan history, with an emphasis on Chinese propaganda and how Chinese leaders have viewed Tibet. . . . China’s Tibet?is essential for understanding how the Sino-Tibetan relationship became what it is today. . . . His clear-eyed analysis makes a very convincing case.” –Far Eastern Economic Review

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by Isabel Hilton

While working on a documentary film, British journalist Hilton was permitted to accompany the Dalai Lama as he sought to identify the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual authority of Tibet’s ruling Buddhist sect. This excellent and artfully written book (part of which has appeared in the New Yorker) tells the complicated recent history of the Panchen Lama.

The 10th incarnation died under mysterious circumstances in 1989 and is considered by many Tibetans to have been a traitor. The 11th–still a child–is missing; the six-year-old boy was detained along with his family in the mid-’90s by Tibet’s Chinese rulers and has not been heard from since. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities have offered another child as the spiritual leader incarnate.

Although she reveals the end of the story in the early pages of the book, Hilton relates this history with great drama and subtle wryness (for Westerners, she says, Tibet is “a kind of religious Disneyland”). Her wonderfully detailed writing illustrates the spiritual and political contours of these events. She describes, for example, a group of Tibetan lamas’ two-day journey to Lhamo Latso Lake, where they went to gain insight that helped them find the reincarnated Panchen Lama; their trek, which involved 20 yaks, a video camera and a set of binoculars, was also monitored closely by Chinese spies.

Hilton reports the story of the quest with great skill, weaving the history of Tibet with visits to monasteries in Tibet, China and India and conveying the power of a religion to survive the destruction of its institutions, the imposition of martial law, jailings and death in labor camps and prisons.

Reviews

An excellent primer on Tibetan history and ….a chilling picture of the brutality of Chinese repression in Tibet. – Wall Street Journal

Lively and vastly entertaining…. Hilton has seen—and participated in—one of the final moments of a lost Tibet. – Boston Sunday Globe

Riveting ….captures the panoramic scope of a remarkable story…. The ending is heartbreaking. – Los Angeles Times

[A]n outstanding book, well-researched, lively, scholarly, humorous, sympathetic, and eminently readable. – The Tablet, 18 September 1999

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Product Description

Few outside the security services have heard of 14 Company. As deadly as the SAS yet more secret, the Operators of 14 Company are Britain’s most effective weapon against international terrorism. For every bomb that goes off 14 Company prevent twelve. The selection process is the most physically, intellectually and emotionally demanding anywhere in the world. Trained to operate under cover, Operators have at their disposal an arsenal of techniques and weapons unmatched by any other UK government or military agency. This is the true story of one Operator and of some of the most hair-raising military operations ever conducted on the streets of Britain.

Review

My reason to buy this book was the hope that it would contribute interesting insights for my research on the Irish Troubles. To put it in a nut-shell: I hope the author didn’t quit his day job over writing this book. What caught my attention was the sub-title “On the streets with Britain’s most secret service,” which proves yet again how important, but also how terribly misleading a title can be.

Little did I know how immature the writer deals with a serious topic like the Irish Troubles. The book starts with “Standby, standby. Zero, Oscar. I have Bravo 1 foxtrot from Alpha 2 towards Charlie 2,” and it doesn’t get much better from there. There is not much to say other than reading this book was a huge waste of my time.

Product Description

A research fellow in history at De Montfort University Leicester (U.K.), Cronin offers synopsis with little insight in this overview of Irish history. Starting with ancient Gaelic Ireland, he quickly moves on to the introduction of Christianity, the Viking and Norman-Anglo invasions, and the effects on the Protestant Reformation. With Cromwell’s invasion in the mid-17th century came the redistribution of land from the Catholics to the Protestants. This is the strong point of the book, as Cronin compacts convoluted Irish history into a comprehensive, readable form. He then briefly covers the 1798 Rebellion, Catholic emancipation under Daniel O’Connell and the great famine of the 1840s, all of which set the stage for the Fenian rebellion of 1867. The Fenians, though unsuccessful, would leave their imprint on Parnell and his Land League. Cronin paints a concise, albeit limited, picture of the events of 1914 through 1923. His portrait of John Redmond, the head of the Irish delegation at Westminster, is telling of the man and his political philosophy. Redmond, who warmly embraced Britain’s entrance into WWI, found himself isolated from his own constituents in the aftermath of the 1916 Rebellion. But the author’s sketchy and incomplete analysis of post-Civil War Ireland and some of his questionable judgments of important figures will leave some readers baffled. He praises the government of William T. Cosgrave (1922-1932) for his post-revolution adaptation of the in-place British systems in many respects returning Ireland to the status quo ante. He also praises Eamon DeValera, whose ascension to power is often viewed as hypocritical, because he renounced everything for which he had fought the Civil War. Cronin’s assessment of the Good Friday Agreement is inadequate: only once does he mention President Clinton, who played the seminal role in brokering the accord. Unfortunately, Cronin sacrifices depth for the sake of brevity; his superficial rendering would best serve as a primer for those who are new to Irish history.

Review

I have to say, I do not agree with the above product description (Amazon.com). The author did a great job of condensing the events of the tumultuous Irish history into less than 300 pages. Any complaint that one particular detail had not been explained to the full extend is simply ridiculous. This book is for everyone looking for a concise, yet very readable description of Irish history. During my intense research for my novel The Bleeding Hills I have been reading extensively, and one of the very few books I can whole-hertedly recommend is A History Of Ireland by Mike Cronin. Reading this book is highly recommended! I like that it is, compared to many other works on Ireland, actually readable and entertaining. If you need a relatively quick overview on the history of Ireland (the tile of the book doesn’t lie!) this is the one I recommend.