Lustgarten's book is a timely and provocative account of China's unstoppable quest to build a railway into Tibet, and the nation's obsession to transform its land and its people.

China's Great Train: Beijing's Drive West and the Campaign to Remake Tibet, Abrahm Lustgarten, Times Books, Paperback, 305 pp, $22.95

Abrahm Lustgarten is a reporter for ProPublica, the not-for-profit newsroom launched in 2008, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant for international reporting. A former contributing writer for Fortune magazine, his articles have also appeared in Esquire, The New York Times, Outside, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic Adventure, Salon, and many other publications. He lives in New York City.