Though Tibet's system of governance had serious lacunas, the Land of Snows was free and independent. In October 1950, Mao's regime decided to �liberate' it. 'Liberate' from what, was the question everybody asked.

Though some in Delhi did not realise it, it would soon be a tragedy for India too, as it had to suddenly live with a new neighbor, whose ideology was the opposite of Buddhist values.

The narrative starts soon after Independence and ends with the signing of the 17-Point Agreement in Beijing in May 1951 when Tibet lost its Independence �and India, a gentle neighbor.

Using never-accessed-before Indian archival material, this book is the first of a series of four books on the India-Tibet Relations (1947-62).

The next volumes will respectively cover the periods 1952-1954, 1954-1957 and 1957-1962.

Tibet: The Last Months of a Free Nation Part 1, Claude Arpi, Vij Books India, Hardcover, 453 pp, $35.00

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.