The "Tibetan Question," the nature of Tibet's political status vis-?-vis China, has been the subject of often bitterly competing views while the facts of the issue have not been fully accessible to interested observers. While one faction has argued that Tibet was, in the main, historically independent until it was conquered by the Chinese Communists in 1951 and incorporated into the new Chinese state, the other faction views Tibet as a traditional part ofChina that split away at the instigation of the British after the fall of the Manchu Dynasty and was later dutifully reunited with "New China" in 1951. In contrast, this comprehensive study of modern Tibetan history presents a detailed, non-partisan account of the demise of the Lamaist state.

Drawing on a wealth of British, American, and Indian diplomatic records; first-hand-historical accounts written by Tibetan participants; and extensive interviews with former Tibetan officials, monastic leaders, soldiers, and traders, Goldstein meticulously examines what happened and why. He balances the traditional focus on international relations with an innovative emphasis on the intricate web of internal affairs and events that produced the fall of Tibet. Scholars and students of Asian history will find this work an invaluable resource and interested readers will appreciate the clear explanation of highly polemicized, and often confusing, historical events.
History of ModernTibet, 1913-1951, Melvyn C. Goldstein, University of California Press, 936 pages, $39.95

Mervyn C. Goldstein, Professor of Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University is the author of the Tibetan-English Dictionary, Modern Spoken Tibetan, and Modern Literary Tibetan. He has conducted research with the Tibetan-speaking populations of India and Nepal in settings that range from a Tibetan refugee settlement in India to the most remote part of Nepal, where he studied an indigenous seminomadic group nestled on the Tibetan border. Recognized as one of the world's leading experts on Tibet, Goldstein has over thirty published essays concerning Tibet.

List of Illustrations	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Explanation of Romanization and Abbreviations	xvii
Preface	xix
Introduction: Tibetan Society, 1913-1951	1
THE ERA OF THE 13TH DALAI LAMA AND RETING, 1913-1941
1. The Early Years of the 13th Dalai Lama	41
2. Tibet and the New Republic in China	65
3. The Dalai Lama, the Army, and the Monastic Segment	89
4. The Death of the 13th Dalai Lama	139
5. The Fall of Kumbela	146
6. In Search of the New Tibet: Lungshar's Reform Party	186
7. The Mission of General Huang Mu-sung	213
8. The British, the Chinese, and the Panchen Lama	252
9. Reting Takes Control, Then Resigns	310
10. Conclusion to Part One: The Reting Years	235
II
THE ERA OF tAKTRA AND THE 14TH DALAI LAMA,1941-1951
11. The Early Years of the Taktra Regency: 1941-1943	369
12. Change and Confrontation in the Twilight of World War II	405
13. The Seeds of Rebellion	427
14. The Reting Conspiracy	464
15. The Victory Congratulations Mission, 1945-1946	522
16. Further Attempts at International Visibility	560
17. Tibet after the Fall of the Kuomintang	611
18. The People's Liberation Army Invades	638
19. After the Fall of Chamdo	698
20. Tibet Capitulates: The Seventeen-Point Agreement	737
21. The Dalai Lama Returns to Lhasa	773
Conclusion: The Demise of the Lamaist State	815
Postscript	825
Appendix A. Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1906	827
Appendix B. Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907	829
Appendix C. The Simla Agreements of 1914	832