The Unveiling of Lhasa

"The Unveiling of Lhasa" by Edmund Candler is a telling of a historical journey from the early 1900s. This book recounts the British adventure into Lhasa, Tibet, and it zeroes in on the politics, battles, and the author's own experiences during this important mission. Candler tries to make clear the complicated relationship between Britain and Tibet, the look and feel of Tibet's culture, and the intense happenings that took place during the trip. He starts by laying out the reasons for the British military going to Lhasa. Candler thinks back on Britain's past dealings with Tibet and the difficulties it had because of both Tibet's stubbornness and China's power. He talks about the history around the expedition, pointing out earlier tries by European travelers to get into Lhasa and how this made Tibet change its rules to keep foreigners out, mainly because they were scared of Britain taking over. As the story goes on, Candler stresses that military action was needed because Britain was being rejected and attacked and shows the expedition as a key time in the tangled history of British rule in Central Asia.