In July 1903, a British expedition secretly entered the forbidden land of Tibet, which was off limits to Europeans. Their journey was an adventure through an ancient, storied, war-torn land, and this is the firsthand account, first published in 1905, of the mission's "cultural expert."From the expedition's treacherous crossing of the Himalayas to its bitter wintering in a land of frosted landscapes, from encounters with the Tibetan army to meetings with monks and sorcerers, this is a rousing account of travels through a legendary, magic-infused place, one that offers a gripping personal eye on the turn-of-the-20th-century political chess match of intrigue and espionage played on the gameboard of the Near East that Kipling termed the "Great Game."Complete with numerous photos, illustrations, charts, and informative appendices, this is a must-reading for anyone fascinated by the mysterious realm of Tibet.British archaeologist and Orientalist LAURENCE AUSTINE WADDELL (1854-1938) also wrote The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (1894) and Among the Himalayas (1899).