Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet (Kodansha Globe) - Peter Hopkirk This author is an outstanding historian and an excellent storyteller. His great strength is in sharing the history without including the boring details that only serious historians find interesting. The book starts with an explanation of why the Tibetans historically guarded their borders and the holy city of Lhasa so carefully. Then the book describes a series of expeditions large and small that crossed the borders illegally and attempted to reach Lhasa. The Tibetans were fierce and vigilant, and the attempts were repelled. Eventually the British succeeded by using military force, and established outposts in Tibet.The latter part of the book details some of the early attempts to reach the summit of Mt. Everest (known to Tibetans as Goddess Mother of the World) from within Tibet. There are also some little-known accounts of harrowing experiences during WWII. One I found especially interesting was about a WWII plane that crashed near Lhasa in a storm. Those aboard didn't even know they were in Tibet.The book ends on a sad note, telling of how the Chinese Red Guards took over Tibet and set about destroying all that was good or unique about it.There's a lot of fascinating information about the old culture of Tibet in this book, also. They were primitive and tribal, and very superstitious. Not at all like the "Shangri-La" image a lot of people have of the Forbidden Land. Their traditional greeting was to stick their tongues out at each other as far as they could, flat against their chins! There's even a picture in the book of them doing this.