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Rating: 
Summary: Hopkirk's enthusiasm is infectious
Review: Although it's full of educational historic detail, Trespassers reads like an adventure novel because of Hopkirk's clearly evident passion for his subject and his anecdotal presentation. Hopkirk's fascinating stories about individual adventurers and their techniques gives us a feel not just for what happened during the time and place that is his subject, but also what it felt like. We get not just fact but flavor.Hopkirk's enthusiastic writing style is only matched by the depth of his knowledge. One cannot help becoming as fascinated by the Western exploration of Tibet as Hopkirk himself is. This is the best of Hopkirk's impressive body of work on the history of the high Central Asian lands, but all of them are worth reading and educate the reader about what is, in the United States, an obscure area of the world. And they're all so fun to read it didn't even feel like they were good for me!
Rating: 
Summary: More China bashing from the Great Game maestro
Review: Another classic from the Englishman who brought us Great Game tales and the story of China's missing Buddhist artwork. This time it's the story of the race to be first in Lhasa - even though the Tibetans asked no one to come and gave no one permission to enter their country. An international cast of Russians, North Americans, the French and the British all attempted to win. Hopkirk's tale of heroism and derring-do then ends with the tragic days of the mid-twentieth century when China invaded and Mao's Red Guard fanatics tried to destroy everything that stood in the way of total domination. Most travellers entered Tibet incognito, either as private travellers hoping to evade detection, and win the prize of being first to enter the sacred city, or in the service of their military or religious masters. All failed, until the legendary Sir Francis Youghusband fought his way there - in true Great Game style - as the head of a British army battalion sent to head off Russian imperial advances into Tibet. Of course, the Tibetans didn't want the Brits telling them what to do and conflict broke out. These days, the manner of the British victory at Guru - in the modern day Indian state of Sikkim - would be the subject of an international enquiry. Many of the other tales are also tragic ...Others are heroic. Most spectacular of all were the 'Pundits' - British trained Indian's spies - who entered Tibet disguised as holy travellers and spent years spinning their prayer wheels, counting every pace and mapping every corner of the country for their colonial masters. It's amazing what you can learning from boiling water. But the final thoughts that linger are those that wonder why the British, after having spent so much energy defeating the Tibetans, then turned turtle and abandoned them in their hour of need. The United States, by then the world's dominant power, stood by and did nothing either. It's a melancholy ending to a truly classic work of art that has you groping for the travel maps and the hiking boots. Once again, Peter Hopkirk has managed to spin an enormously enjoyable story about a page of history that very few know anything about. Watching the Dalai Lama rail against China on the BBC will never be the same again.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another winner from Hopkirk
Review: Anything this author touches turns to gold. Like his other books, this one is filled with adventure, mystery, exotic locales, and truth stranger than any fiction. The book has heroes, villains (well, Mao anyway), overlooked episodes of extreme endurance, obscure triumphs, weird encounters, flamboyant madmen, bandits, hermits, and plenty of bizarre details. The focus on one specific country makes this book more digestable and less sweeping than his other books.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Entertaining
Review: I cannot remember reading a recounting of history in a region that is more entertaining than Hopkirk's Tresspassers on the Roof of the World. In an attention grabbing manner, Hopkirk tells the tales of westerner's attempts, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to reach Lhasa, the spiritual and temporal capital of Tibet. The characters are serious, yet amusing, and their stories are told very well. A quick read but well worth the trouble of picking up the book!
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Entertaining
Review: I cannot remember reading a recounting of history in a region that is more entertaining than Hopkirk's Tresspassers on the Roof of the World. In an attention grabbing manner, Hopkirk tells the tales of westerner's attempts, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to reach Lhasa, the spiritual and temporal capital of Tibet. The characters are serious, yet amusing, and their stories are told very well. A quick read but well worth the trouble of picking up the book!
Rating:
Summary: I could not put this book down...
Review: OVer summer vacation, sitting in France and wishing I could someday go to Central Asia I read and really enjoyed this book. Mr. Hopkirk takes a fascinating piece of history and makes it read like an adventure story. His story about the many who tried to go to Lhasa and failed is fascinating. This book is not a book glorifying any given party but helps explain many players. He provides interesting details and insight into the would be explorers and the conditions that finally lead to the success of the quest. At the same time he provides valuable information on Tibet and its rulers and the British and Chinese and their motivations. His discussion of the Pundits is informative, interesting and sympathetic. It is a short and fast read and well worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Well told
Review: This book is a history of the outsiders who have tried to gain entry to Tibet through the centuries. It begins with a brief description of Tibet, its geography and history, and why the political and religious leaders decided to forbid foreigners from visiting during the Middle Ages. The book then examines each of the major attempts by foreigners to enter the country and learn its secrets. The first descriptions are of Captain Thomas Montgomerie's spies, Indians who were trained in surveying and espionage skills and sent into Tibet under cover to map the country. The information these spies provided was essential for drawing the first accurate maps of Tibet. Hopkirk then describes the many subsequent attempts by Westerners to crash the gates and see Lhasa first hand. These Westerners included army officers from both the British and Russian armies, missionaries, and private citizens. All were turned back before they reached Lhasa until Francis Younghusband and the British army blasted their way through in 1903-1904. After Younghusband's opening of the country for the British, it became a little easier for foreigners to gain access to the country, at least for British government officials, that is. Hopkirk provides brief accounts of other subsequent adventurers and their expeditions to Lhasa, including Alexandra David-Neel, Heinrich Harrer, and Sven Hedin. He also describes the trips of the first explorers who attempted to climb Mt. Everest, especially Mallory. He closes the book with a description of the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet as one final example of unwelcome trespassers. As I read this book, I was again struck by the contrast between how little average Tibetans had in the way of material goods or lifestyle, and how fiercely they struggled to keep it that way and keep foreign influences out. The descriptions of Lhasa at the turn of the century when Westerners first gained access to it make the place sound quite miserable- -open gutters, vermin, disease were everywhere. The monks and religious leaders possessed incredible power, and subjected people to hideous corporal punishments if they stepped out of line. When considering such circumstances, it's hard to believe that average Tibetans would really prefer to be left alone, to mire in their own dirt ruled by a strict theocracy. Nevertheless, these days the very word Tibet evokes images of the exiled Dalai Lama and his endless missions for peace. The idea that we have of Tibet today must somehow have been contained in the culture that the trespassers described in this book found and fought to destroy. The book is quite well written and engaging. Hopkirk does a masterful job at weaving together a coherent narrative thread from the various documents that describe the expeditions. His organization and selection provide clear insights into the topic and a balance that is hard to realize when reading the various firsthand accounts of these expeditions..
Rating:
Summary: Well told
Review: This book is a history of the outsiders who have tried to gain entry to Tibet through the centuries. It begins with a brief description of Tibet, its geography and history, and why the political and religious leaders decided to forbid foreigners from visiting during the Middle Ages. The book then examines each of the major attempts by foreigners to enter the country and learn its secrets. The first descriptions are of Captain Thomas Montgomerie's spies, Indians who were trained in surveying and espionage skills and sent into Tibet under cover to map the country. The information these spies provided was essential for drawing the first accurate maps of Tibet. Hopkirk then describes the many subsequent attempts by Westerners to crash the gates and see Lhasa first hand. These Westerners included army officers from both the British and Russian armies, missionaries, and private citizens. All were turned back before they reached Lhasa until Francis Younghusband and the British army blasted their way through in 1903-1904. After Younghusband's opening of the country for the British, it became a little easier for foreigners to gain access to the country, at least for British government officials, that is. Hopkirk provides brief accounts of other subsequent adventurers and their expeditions to Lhasa, including Alexandra David-Neel, Heinrich Harrer, and Sven Hedin. He also describes the trips of the first explorers who attempted to climb Mt. Everest, especially Mallory. He closes the book with a description of the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet as one final example of unwelcome trespassers. As I read this book, I was again struck by the contrast between how little average Tibetans had in the way of material goods or lifestyle, and how fiercely they struggled to keep it that way and keep foreign influences out. The descriptions of Lhasa at the turn of the century when Westerners first gained access to it make the place sound quite miserable- -open gutters, vermin, disease were everywhere. The monks and religious leaders possessed incredible power, and subjected people to hideous corporal punishments if they stepped out of line. When considering such circumstances, it's hard to believe that average Tibetans would really prefer to be left alone, to mire in their own dirt ruled by a strict theocracy. Nevertheless, these days the very word Tibet evokes images of the exiled Dalai Lama and his endless missions for peace. The idea that we have of Tibet today must somehow have been contained in the culture that the trespassers described in this book found and fought to destroy. The book is quite well written and engaging. Hopkirk does a masterful job at weaving together a coherent narrative thread from the various documents that describe the expeditions. His organization and selection provide clear insights into the topic and a balance that is hard to realize when reading the various firsthand accounts of these expeditions..
Rating:
Summary: I could not put this book down...
Review: This book was fantastic. I bought it in Kathmandu before heading up to Lhasa by bus. Hopkirks incredible, true stories gave my journey to Tibet (and my extended stay there) much more meaning and significance. But that isn't to say that you have to go to Tibet to appreciate this book - its engaging stories of Westerners desperately trying to get to the sacred and forbidden city of Lhasa in the 18th and early 20th centuries is both accessible and exciting. Even if you never go to Tibet, you'll be amazed by some of the stories in here. And if you do go, this book is an absolute must read simply for historical context. I found it fascinating.
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Summary: The Outside World Comes Crashing In
Review: This is a very entertaining little history book by the master expert on the obscure lands of Central Asia, Peter Hopkirk, who is also an excellent writer. The focus here is an esoteric bit of history which has probably not been covered elsewhere - the race by the outside world to get into mysterious Tibet, and especially its forbidden capital Lhasa. The Tibetans' almost pathological need to be left alone led them to repel anyone from outside shortly after such interlopers crossed the border. Add to that Tibet's inaccessibility, surrounded on three sides by the most impenetrable mountains on Earth, and on the fourth side by equally hostile deserts, all of which many people though the ages have died trying to traverse. Of course this all made outsiders, especially Westerners, yearn to "gatecrash" this forbidden land. Hopkirk tells the intriguing tales of the various adventurers, diplomats, and missionaries who made the earliest attempts to reach Lhasa, most of whom didn't make it. While mostly unsuccessful in reaching their ultimate goal, these hardy souls still had incredible stories to tell and contributed immensely to the sparse knowledge of Tibet's geography and culture. Included are some unexpected goodies like the story of the indestructible Pundits from India who literally counted the steps they took, plus the earliest deadly attempts to conquer Mt. Everest. The book ends rather depressingly with the story of China's brutal occupation in the 1950's, which ended Tibet's self-imposed isolation once and for all, after which the Chinese closed it off even more tightly because of political paranoia. Throughout the book, Hopkirk offers some key insights into ancient Tibetan culture and their homegrown brand of extreme Buddhism. As a result we find that Tibet was never the spiritual paradise of pure thought and devotion that modern celebrity Buddhists try to tell us it was, before the outside world screwed everything up (we see that not even the Dalai Lama makes that claim). You may be surprised by the fierce, if naïve, warlike tendencies of the Tibetans, even their monks. The only problem with this book is Hopkirk's tendency to hold back on many stories. He starts to describe some very interesting tales, like the harsh ordeal of the lone female missionary Susie Rijnhart or the mysterious Japanese spy Narita Yasuteru, only to abruptly claim that the conclusions are outside the scope of the book or more extensively described elsewhere. This is a rather frustrating tease from the author, especially since this book is not that long and there is surely room to spare. But that's the only misstep in this most enjoyable book. (Note: for the much larger story of this region, in which Tibet played a small historical part, see Hopkirk's later masterwork "The Great Game.")
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