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. A Best of 2008, this new paper edition is published to mark the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's hair-rasing escape from Tibet over the Himalayas on March 10, 1959.  (TBT118, $15.95)