Memoirs of a Political Officers Wife in Tibet. Sikkim and Bhutan

by Margaret D. Williamson, John Snelling

Memoirs portraying life in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan in the 1930s.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 1987

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A factual account of British government officials in Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkhim in the early 1930s. Having travelled through part of those regions, I loved the photographs! It is written as a chronological diary of 'we went here, then we went there'. Would have like much more reflection on daily life in those areas and on the diplomatic relationships in the regions at the time.

[Vashni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very special book, because my sweet boyfriend got it for me two days before we left Sikkim, India. I remember holding it close, so new and so captivating (from the introduction until the end), sipping hot chocolate at a Sikkimese cafe, and thinking about how unique Sikkim was, and the complicated history it had.

This memoir of a truly dedicated and respectable British P.O. and his wife perfectly painted a picture of how the Himalayas fared as it was meshed between two giant countries, British India and China, and how it had a vibrant existence even as this tug-of-war between two empires continued, with the Himalayas as a buffer and a chess piece that moved ever so which way.

It is wonderful to read, vivid, touching, and absolutely rereadable. I left my copy when I migrated, but I am in the process of retrieving it--it belongs to a cozy bookshelf, and deserves to be out there in the world!

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. Full of fascinating accounts of life in Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet in the 1930s. Inevitably, the memoir of an Indian Raj official would be a little patrician, but very interesting nonetheless.