Customer Reviews

Spy On The Roof Of The World: Espionage and Survival in the Himalayas

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A good sequel to Harrer's "Seven Years in Tibet." This book covers the time immediately after the Chinese 'liberation' of Tibet. The author's incredible story of survival after being illegally arrested is captivating. The author also has a sharp wit and some of the lies he tells the Chinese are hilarous. Especially the one about the 'real' reason Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest.

Whether you're interested in China, Tibet, or espionage, you will thoroughly enjoy this Brit's account of his run-in the the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1995. A rather naive mountaineer, he casually accepts intelligence taskings from the British and Indian intelligence services to clandestinely cross the border into Tibet and collect information on the construction of the Xinjiang-Tibet highway. He gets caught. His description of his treatment by the Chinese is done with a wonderful British stiff-upper-lip, keep-your-sense-of-humor style that doesn't camouflage the very real fear and peril he and his colleagues were in. Really a page turner and an enjoyable read.

If you like non-fiction adventure stories, this is the book for you! It's more about spying than climbing, so don't expect a Krakauer story, but it is a fascinating and gripping true story. Buy it; you won't regret it.

With the current crisis between the United States and China filling up the pages of the news media and the television screen, this book serves both a jarring and entertaining reminder of the nature of the totalitarian state of China, and of Communist regimes in general. An absolutely riveting book, it is a firsthand account of the experiences of the author and his two companions in a Tibetan prison after being captured for illegally entering Tibet while on a mountaineering expedition and reconnaisance mission for India. The detailed descriptions of numerous interrogations by the People's Liberation Army and their tactics of psychological torture through "Chinese Roulette" and "Struggling Against" lay bare the tactics and aims of the Communist ideology -- Truth is Fiction, and Fiction is Truth. I found myself re-reading passages of this book almost in disbelief at the insanely distorted beliefs and actions of the author's captors. In the end, the author learns to turn the tables on his interrogators by exploiting the "Truth is Fiction, and Fiction is Truth" aspect of Communism, and provides the People's Liberation Army with "secret intelligence" so laughably ridiculous that anyone with the capability to think independently would reject immediately. The fact that the author's interrogators take all of his fabrications seriously is the truly frightening side of these outwardly comical confessions, because it shows the success that the Communist Party had in China with brainwashing large segments of the population. There are two passages in the book which completely distill the differences in the view between East and West of the value of life. The first is the description of the slow and deliberate slaughter of a live sheep by several Chinese prison guards, while the second is the inability of the author to kill one of his captors even after being put through all that has been described up to that point. These two passages, which occur in relatively close juxtaposition in the book, is one of the starkest, most brutal comparisons of "good and evil" that I have ever read.

I read this book sometime ago and was thrilled and captivated by it! I could not put it down. It was so unusual and so interesting - a view point of the Chinese by a Scotsman (who worked as a spy for the Indian army that he loved and respected, in addition to climbing the treacherous Gurla Mandhata, which had been his lifelong mountaineering ambition as a member of the Scottish Himalayan Club) who suffered being captured, imprisoned and tortured by them. All of this and subtly funny throughout! I could not put the book down until I had finished reading all of it! Tellingly, this adventure cured the author of his mountaineering passion.

I highly for recommend it as a movie worth producing by Hollywood or Bollywood - within the next 5 years. I predict that this will be a blockbuster unlike any other!

This book goes into the period just after the Chinese 'liberation' of Tibet and the war with India due to their land grabbing.
The author has written out of personal experience, and his lack of writing skills must be excused. Sometimes the narrative might get kinda boring, but the work has to be read as a historical gem rather than an interesting story.
Goes into good detail about the crimes committed by the Chinese against the Tibetans.
A very good read.

This is the best book I have ever read, on any topic. My husband and I had to move to a new house with two extra bedrooms and a finished basement - just so we could accomodate all our books. So I don't say lightly that this is the best book I have ever read.

This is a great survival story, but, more than that, it is an amazing human drama. Other reviewers have done an excellent job of describing the plot, so I'll just say that Sydney Wignall's writing is clear, detailed, and emotionally charged. This book is amazingly powerful.

Read this book!

I read this book years ago and it still stands out as one of the must reads for anyone with an interest in Tibet and it's "liberation" by China. More time is spent in prison than climbing, but it is still a true adventure story. I highly recommend it!

A truly amazing story with right dosage of travelogue, high altitude mountaineering, History of India, Nepal, China & Tibet's along with the behind the scenes patriotism of Indian army and of self centered Nehru & Menon. A must read for who truly believe in the cause of Tibet's Liberation!

One of the best books I have read in a long time. I really enjoyed Wignall's recount of his journey. I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone.