Annelie Rozeboom’s investigative book, which tries to find out what people living in Tibet really think, is reviewed at Overlooking Tibet.

What sparkles in this book are the real people Rozeboom met while traveling in China, Tibet, and India. In the West, we tend to think of the Tibet issue as being black and white, but this book colors in a bit of the gray areas, and brings forth people who lives are often forgotten.

We tend to see every Tibetan exile as someone who was either climbed across the mountains or was raised in India. We think of Tibetans inside Tibet being all monks and nuns and in constant suffering. What we don’t see are those Tibetans who have prospered in their homeland or in exile, those working for change and trying to do so within the structure that the CCP has put into place in Tibet. We don’t see those Tibetans who are leaders within the CCP, either with good or ill intentions.

Every story is important when it comes to the Tibet issue, and this book does a great job at illustrating some of the many stories that get overlooked. Rozeboom also references a lot of important books and people (from Rinchen Lhamo’s “We Tibetans” to Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, who is important for a really different and ridiculous reason) that would be a great starting point for anyone wishing to further their knowledge on Tibet and society’s view of Tibet and Tibetan culture.

Read the full review here.