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Essential Reading

Item EXHML47. Buy these 4 items as a set for $61 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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So Close to Heaven, The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas

So Close to Heaven, The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas

by Barbara Crossette

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 297 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Asia correspondent for the New York Times, Crossette portrays Bhutan and neighboring Ladakh and Sikkim as strongholds of Tantric Buddhism in an increasingly homogenized world. (NPL04, $16.00)

The Open Road, The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

The Open Road, The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

by Pico Iyer

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Travel writer Pico Iyer, who has known the Dalai Lama since his days as a graduate student in Britain, draws on his long association with the man and his ideas for this remarkable portrait of the Tibetan people and the aspirations of their leader. He includes chapters on daily life in Dharamsala, travels with the Dalai Lama and incisive commentary on the history and future of Tibet. (TBT118, $14.95)

A Journey in Ladakh

A Journey in Ladakh

by Andrew Harvey

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 236 PAGES

The vivid account of a 1981 journey by a young English poet in search of ancient Buddhist traditions in remote Ladakh. (HML15, $18.95)

India North Map

India North Map

by Nelles

  • MAP

A regional map of northern India scaled at 1:1,500,000, with excellent topographic detail and insets of Delhi, Agra, Zanskar & Ladakh. (IDA124, $13.95)

 
The Ancient Silk Road, An Illustrated Map

The Ancient Silk Road, An Illustrated Map


by Odyssey Maps

  • 2011
  • MAP

Three large annotated color maps, dozens of photographs and expert commentary illustrate sites across the Silk Road from China across Central Asia, the Middle East and Asia Minor. (ASA58, $14.95)

Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment, How to Stay Healthy at Altitude

Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment, How to Stay Healthy at Altitude


by Stephen Bezruchka

  • REFERENCE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

Bezruchka, a mountaineer and M.D., includes case studies, frequently asked questions and simple methods of diagnosis and treatment in this indispensable pocket guide. (REF02, $8.95)

Eyewitness Guide Delhi, Agra and Jaipur

Eyewitness Guide Delhi, Agra and Jaipur


by Anuradha Chaturvedi

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

With chapters on Taj Mahal, Amber Fort Palace, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Red Fort and dozens of other highlights for the traveler, this compact, gorgeously illustrated guide to Delhi and its environs features 900 color photographs, maps and site plans. (IDA151, $25.00)

Buddhist Himalayas

Buddhist Himalayas


by Olivier and Danielle Follmi | Mattieu Ricard

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 424 PAGES

A big, beautiful celebration of the Himalayas, featuring 185 richly colored, often double-page photographs and essays by Mattieu Ricard. (HML53, $32.95)

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi


by William Dalrymple

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 350 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Dalrymple infectiously interweaves his own experiences over a year in Delhi with the art, architecture, history and literature of the city. (IDA06, $16.00)

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

Essential Tibetan Buddhism


by Robert Thurman

  • RELIGION
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

The foremost Western scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, Thurman has chosen well from that tradition's sacred literature and helpfully includes suggested further reading, explanatory notes and a directory of sacred sites. (TBT15, $14.99)

In Exile from the Land of Snows, The Dalai Lama and Tibet Since the Chinese Occupation

In Exile from the Land of Snows, The Dalai Lama and Tibet Since the Chinese Occupation


by John Avedon

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 391 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

Avedon's masterful, passionate cris de coeur, still the best book on the subject, shows the lives of the Tibetan people at home and in exile since the Chinese takeover in 1950 through the eyes of its leaders, monks and regular people. (TBT04, $16.95)

Meeting God, Elements of Hindu Devotion

Meeting God, Elements of Hindu Devotion


by Thomas Moore | Stephen Huyler

  • RELIGION
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 271 PAGES

A stunningly photographed introduction to the rituals and daily devotion of contemporary Hinduism in India. A companion to the traveling exhibition "Puja, Expressions of Hindu Devotion." (IDA132, $25.00)

The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living

The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living


by Dalai Lama XIV

  • RELIGION
  • 1998
  • HARD COVER
  • 336 PAGES

Tenth anniversary edition. Drawing on Buddhist tradition and teaching, His Holiness the Dalai Lama shows how to confront negative emotions, stresses, and obstacles of everyday life in order to find the source of inner peace. (TBT124, $25.95)

The Dragon in the Land of Snows

The Dragon in the Land of Snows


by Tsering Shakya

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 606 PAGES

A comprehensive account of the history and political development of Tibet since 1947, which includes eye-opening details of the American, British and Indian players involved in Tibet's struggle for sovereignty. (TBT32, $18.00)

Trans-Himalayan Caravans, Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh

Trans-Himalayan Caravans, Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh


by Janet Rizvi

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 388 PAGES

Rizvi draws on archives, historical sources and personal interviews with modern traders in this colorful account of this history of trade in High Asia from the seventh to the twentieth centuries. (HML86, $29.95)

World Religions: Eastern Traditions

World Religions: Eastern Traditions


by Willard G. Oxtoby

  • RELIGION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 515 PAGES

A clear and insightful introduction to Eastern religions by a team of scholars, covering Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist and East Asian traditions. Scholarly, but still rewarding for the general reader. (ASA07, $79.95)

Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh

Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh


by Dalai Lama | Peter Matthiessen | Helena Norberg-Hodge

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 226 PAGES

Norberg-Hodge documents her community work and changes from traditional ways of life; she has lived and worked in Ladakh since 1975. (HML24, $16.95)

My Life as an Explorer

My Life as an Explorer


by Sven Hedin | Anthony Brandt

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 546 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

One of the great adventure books of all time (it's on National Geographic's list of the 100 greatest, My Life as an Explorer chronicles the extraordinary feats of the indomitable Swede Sven Hedin (1865-1952) across Asia. (CAS06, $16.00)

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang


by Sally Wriggins

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A nicely illustrated account of an extraordinary, 16-year trek from Xi'an to India by way of Central Asia in search of the origins of Buddhism by Xuan-Zang, the famous 7th-century Chinese monk. (ASA31, $25.00)

Gods, Demons and Others

Gods, Demons and Others


by R. K. Narayan | R.K. Laxman

  • LITERATURE
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 241 PAGES

Hindu stories freely adapted by Narayan, one of India's foremost writers. They include tales both highly readable and revealing of Indian Hindu traditions, some drawn from the Ramayana and the Mahabarata. (IDA101, $23.00)

Ramayana

Ramayana


by Arshia Sattar | Valmiki

  • LITERATURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 696 PAGES

One of India's greatest epics, this story of good triumphing over evil is both a bedtime story for Indian children and of great interest to philosophers and theologians. (IDA283, $14.95)

Birds of India

Birds of India


by Richard Grimmett | Carol Inskipp | Tim Inskipp

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

Thoroughly revised, with 73 new plates and many others updated or repainted, the second edition of the masterful Birds of India now features all maps and text opposite the plates for quicker and easier reference. (FG43, $39.50)

Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas

Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas


by Bikram Grewal

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

A pocket guide to 250 birds found from the foothills up to high elevations ranging from the Hindu Kush and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas. With brief descriptive information, maps and 260 full-color illustrations. (HML31, $15.95)

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Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.