"No one is better qualified than Tucci to write a general yet comprehensive work on such a complex subject. His explorations in Tibet, extensive personal experiences, direct observations of ritual, and unmatched textual knowledge are graciously combined in this valuable and highly readable volume."--Barbara Nimri Aziz, Journal of Asian Studies "Tucci's most significant contribution is his application of a systematic analysis of parallels and interconnections among the religious practices of Tibetans. . . . We have both a thorough analysis of significant texts as well as a description and appreciation of rituals, architecture, and artifacts."--Francis V. Tiso, Cross Currents "[Readers] are not soon to find a more informative, comprehensive rendering of the religions of Tibet-minus all the myths and by a scholar as extraordinary as Giuseppe Tucci."--A. Torn Grunfeld, Focus on Asian Studies "We have here a synthesis of Tucci's knowledge and insight into one of the most extraordinary of the world's great cultures."--Ninian Smart, Times Literary Supplement


Religions of Tibet, Giuseppe Tucci, University of California Press, Paperback, 340 pages, $17.95

Giuseppe Tucci was an Italian Orientalist, Indologist and scholar of East Asian studies, specialised in Tibetan culture and history of Buddhism. During its zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian Fascism, and he used idealized portrayals of Asian traditions to support Italian ideological campaigns.