Sky burial : an eyewitness account of China's brutal crackdown in Tibet

Synopsis

"Sky Burial is the remarkable story of a young American man traveling in the Himalayas who inadvertently walked into one of the grimmest - and least-known - scenes of political oppression in the world. Blake Kerr had just graduated from medical school and was fulfilling a lifelong dream by visiting the remote mountain nation of Tibet. Traveling with an old college friend, John Ackerly, he enjoyed the sights and sounds of Lhasa, the "forbidden city" capital of Tibet, and hitch-hiked to Everest, where the two "humped loads" for an American expedition assaulting the mountain's North Ridge." "Upon returning to Lhasa, Kerr and Ackerly swiftly became sensitized to the oppressive character of the Chinese occupying forces and their efforts to eradicate Tibetan culture. Though they knew that Tibet had long been subject to Chinese military rule, their outrage grew as discontent brewed among the Tibetans of Lhasa. Finally, they witnessed a series of demonstrations by Tibetan monks that triggered an explosion of pro-independence protests greater than anything witnessed by foreigners since China entered Tibet in 1949 - protests that were swiftly and brutally quashed by Chinese police and army forces." "Kerr and Ackerly attempted to aid the rebels, but were arrested and endured a brief, harrowing imprisonment. Their efforts to alert the international media met with success, however, and China suffered international embarrassment and condemnation as the story of the crackdown in Lhasa became news in the West. After their forced departure from the country both Kerr and Ackerly became activists committed to ending Tibet's oppression at the hands of China, and Kerr tells the story of his repeated efforts to document the coercive "family-planning" measures instituted by the Chinese in Tibet. This urgent tale has never fully been told. Kerr's account furnishes unprecedented first-hand testimony to the tragic threat of cultural genocide facing Tibet."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved