George Patterson was a missionary who has worked and travelled in the country, speaks the language and cherishes an affectionate respect for the Tibetan character. Patterson is an original, a man of immense gusto and physical resilience, and the merit of this book, apart from its brisk descriptive prose, is that it is the product of long and close observation at first hand. In Tibet in Revolt the author provides a fascinating survey of Sino-Tibetan relations from the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century A.D. to the Chinese Communist invasion in 1950. This tragic tale recalls the unsuccessful uprising of the Tibetan people and traces the whole pattern of events which culminated in the flight of the Dalai Lama to India. It is safe to say that no one else has been able to etch this bloodstained chapter of contemporary Asian history with greater clarity or more compassion than Patterson, who been an authority on Tibet for more than sixty years.