Collins 1974

Lobsang Thondup, a Manchurian who assumed a Tibetan name for reasons which are divulged at the end of this book, was obliged to join the Japanese Air Force. Later, while still in his early 20s, he held the rank of colonel, first on one side and then on the other in the Chinese revolution. But when his brother was arrested on a charge which he believed unjustified, he found the constraints of Communism too great and made a hazardous journey to Tibet. In Lhasa he opened the first mechanical workshop they had ever seen there. It brought him quick riches and contacts with Tibetans of all classes. including the Dhorji Paghmo, Tibet's only 'Living Buddha'. Lobsang's love affair with this 22 year old girl, who ranked third in the Tibetan hierarchy, was the most unexpected and fateful of his many amorous encounters. It led indirectly to his imprisonment by the Chinese Army's Political Branch on suspicion of helping the Khamba guerrillas who had risen against the Chinese invaders. His escape, involving thirty hours in a cesspit, led him briefly back to his lover in the sanctuary of her monastery on the great Yamdrok Lake. In 1959, after the Dalai Lama's flight into India, Lobsang crossed the Great Himalayas into the little kingdom of Bhutan, where his engineering skills made him friends in high places. After workiong for both the Prime Minister, who had befriended him, and for the King, Lobsang found himself drawn into dynastic quarrels which divided Bhutan after the Prime Minister's assassination in 1964. Despite the fact that he had led a successful hunt for the murderer he landed in jail again, occupying a dungeon which he had helped the King to rebuild...