Peaks and Lamas

Several years ago, Wendell Berry recommended we read Marco Pallis' Peaks and Lamas. He had obtained a copy of this out of print and elusive title, and upon reading it wrote saying, "I have a very high opinion of it." He praised the writing on travel and mountaineering, but he was specially drawn to the writing about Buddhism, the chapters on Tibetan Art, and went on "this is the best book, in my limited reading, in connecting a form of Buddhism with its sustaining culture. It would be useful to anybody interested in what a traditional culture is or might be, and how such a culture might preserve itself." With Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder and Robert Aitken offering encouragement, we could hardly ignore the imperative of putting this remarkable text, out of print for at least thirty years, back into print for a whole new generation of readers.