Lhasa: Streets with Memories by Robert Barnett May 11, 2006

A journalist and expert on Tibet, Barnett offers a haunting and multilayered portrayal of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in his new book.
Foreign observers, both Western and Eastern, have frequently idealized the Tibetan capital, describing it as a peaceful, timeless city defined by Buddhist traditions and a contented population, while others have seen it as foul-smelling, oppressive, or backward. In this imaginative new work, Barnett juxtaposes contemporary accounts of Tibet, architectural observations, and his own experience to offer a sharp yet lyrical exploration of Lhasa and its current status as both an ancient city and a modern Chinese provincial capital.
Interspersed throughout the book are dramatic, firsthand accounts of the underground drive for Tibetan independence and the violent confrontations that shook Lhasa in the late 1980s. He discovers a city whose story is woven from the tangled threads of myth, legend, history, and desire and shaped by a rich cultural heritage and the impact of political ideals and restraints. The buildings and the city streets, as Barnett demonstrates, recount the story of Tibet's complex transition from tradition to modernity and its painful history of foreign encounters and political experiment.

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