Tethong has been part of the Dalai Lama’s personal office since the author arrived in Dharamsala, where Gyatso was in exile, in 1963, and he has worked as the Dalai Lama’s translator and private secretary for four decades, retiring in 2006. The author offers a succinct history of Buddhism in Tibet up to the leader’s exile in 1959 and the worldwide institutions and support he and his entourage have created since. Because he has been the Dalai Lama’s constant companion, Tethong is able to document his prodigious work over the years—e.g., consistent political action, global travels and meetings with heads of state, and ambitious initiatives in education—all in service of garnering support for the Tibetan fight against China’s authoritarian control. Via personal testimony and stunning, rarely seen photographs, Tethong chronicles the remarkable journey of a man who has led by example with kindness and empathy. Chosen by a search committee in 1939 when he was barely 4 years old, the boy and his extensive family relocated to Lhasa so he could be schooled and trained at the monastery. He was officially enthroned in 1940; with growing Chinese aggression by 1950, he was appointed the temporal leader of an embattled nation at age 15. The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize was only one affirmation of the world’s recognition of and admiration for his peaceful resistance to the occupation of Tibet. Tethong, obviously a great admirer of his subject, gushes that he has been voted one of the most respected world leaders—”an incredible feat for a Tibetan leader”—but the portrait doesn’t suffer from the author’s abundant enthusiasm.
