Dharamshala: Tibet's Forgotten Heroes. The Story of Tibet's Armed Resistance against China is a unique historical document on Tibetan resistance to Chinese oppression. For the very first time since the events, forty-eight stories by Tibetan warriors involved in the struggle for freedom are given unabridged, creating a vivid and emotional spectrum of events in Tibet since 1949.
The author, Birgit van de Wijer, has been careful to provide an honest transcription of the interviews, acting only as a 'service hatch'.
The book with stories of these surviving ancient freedom fighters, by now at high age, presents for future generations a first hand and multi-angled view on one of the most tragic periods in the history of Tibet.
The first hand interviews as well as the translation into English were conducted by native Tibetans. The book is the result of a two years work with dozens of Tibetans involved.
Tibet's Forgotten Heroes. The Story of Tibet's Armed Resistance against China. A highly emotive collection of first hand accounts of the struggle to resist Chinese oppression in Tibet.
Tibet’s Forgotten Heroes is a powerful and meticulously researched book that brings to light the overlooked narratives of Tibetan resistance fighters who bravely opposed Chinese military occupation and ideological domination throughout the 20th century. The book is structured into a series of compelling chapters, each dedicated to different regional uprisings, key figures, and resistance movements, such as the Chushi Gangdruk guerrilla army, the secret operations of Tibetan freedom fighters in Amdo and Kham, and the exiled resistance networks that formed across the Himalayas. Through these chapters, the author not only reconstructs the untold stories of courage, sacrifice, and strategic defiance but also challenges the prevailing myth of Tibetan passivity by vividly presenting a history of armed resistance, clandestine organisation, and political resilience.
The primary purpose of Tibet’s Forgotten Heroes is to reclaim and reassert Tibet’s rightful place in the global narrative of anti-colonial resistance. By documenting the lives and struggles of Tibetans who risked or lost everything to protect their homeland, the book serves as a counter-narrative to both Chinese state propaganda and the often-sanitised portrayals of Tibet in international discourse. Each chapter serves as a historical archive and moral testimony, aiming to inspire present and future generations of Tibetans, scholars, and global readers to recognise the enduring spirit of Tibetan nationalism. The book underscores the urgent need for historical justice and remembrance, acting as both an act of resistance and a tribute to those whose bravery has long been erased from official records.
By Birgit van de Wijer
www.amberleybooks.com or available on www.amzon.com
From the same Author: Child Exodus from Tibet (2006, translated in French and Dutch - www.childexodus.org) and to be published soon: Escape to Freedom. The Dangerous Trek
of Tibetan Youth. (Paljor Publications, 2011)
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