Tibet

The Open Road, by Pico Iyer (2008). Through the prism of the Dalai Lama, Iyer's luminous book presents a poignant portrait of three Tibets: the eternal Tibet, where monks still debate esoteric ideas in vigorous courtyard battles; the contemporary Tibet, where an inexorable influx of Han Chinese threatens to extinguish traditional culture and practice; and the Tibet in exile of present-day Dharamsala, in northwestern India.