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Oral and Literary Continuities in Modern Tibetan Literature: The Inescapable Nation . Lama Jabb. Lanham, Boulder, New York and London: Lexington Books, 2015. x + 277 pp. £65.00. ISBN 978-1-4985-0333-4

Negotiations, however, failed; the rebels returned to the struggle and Mao eventually approved socialist reforms which only exacerbated the situation leading to a much larger and widespread revolt. Another major contribution, based largely on extensive oral histories, is the most detailed portrayal of the various Tibetan groups opposed to Chinese rule, from the plotting among the Dalai Lama’s senior officials to the small group of elites and non-elites in India, to the ordinary people in Kham and central Tibet. The volume ends just as the involvement of the US Central Intelligence Agency begins although this participation, at the time, was limited to the training of six Tibetans to prepare for intelligence gathering. On the Chinese side, thanks to an impressive collection of documents, we have a detailed history of the struggle that ensued among Chinese officials between the leadership in Beijing and the local authorities in both central and eastern Tibet over how and when to bring socialist reform to Tibet. These Chinese documents are full of revelations which allow a far more nuanced understanding of this history than we have ever had. One interesting find was an internal Chinese document which acknowledges Tibet’s de facto independence: “Although Tibet became an inseparable part of China long ago, it has maintained an independent or semi-independent status in its relations with the motherland” (p. 471). While Goldstein’s historical interpretations are often contested he makes his case forcefully and backs it up with formidable research. One quick example of an analysis which could be questioned has to do with Mao Zedong’s motives (a subject of considerable controversy on almost every front) for his gradualist and benign policies in central Tibet. Goldstein argues they were pragmatic: “... Mao’s main motivation ... [was the] ... realization that China’s national interests were served best, not by replacing Tibet’s anachronistic sociopolitical society as soon as possible for reasons of socialist ideological purity, but by political realism” (p. 469). Goldstein has been collecting historical documents and oral histories of the principal players, both Chinese and Tibetan, for more than 35 years and the result is this tour de force of historical narrative and detailed analysis which solidifies Goldstein’s position as the foremost Tibetologist. Finally, a tip of the hat to the publishers for using footnotes. The documentation in this volume is so weighty that for scholars reading the notes, end notes would have made the book a very difficult read.