‘Impressive in its clarity this biography [is] the most detailed and accurate to date. Written in an engaging prose, [it] ends with an insightful prediction of the legacy of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, and a cleareyed assessment of the challenges that the fifteenth will face’ The New York Times The Dalai Lama s message of peace and compassion resonates with people of all faiths and none. Yet, for all his worldwide fame, he remains personally elusive. Now, Alexander Norman, acclaimed Oxford-trained scholar of the history of Tibet, delivers the definitive biography unique, multi-layered, and at times even shocking.The Dalai Lama illuminates an astonishing odyssey from isolated Tibetan village to worldwide standing as spiritual and political leader of one of the world s most profound and complex cultural traditions. Norman reveals that, while the Dalai Lama has never been comfortable with his political position, he has been a canny player at one time CIA-backed who has manoeuvred amidst pervasive violence, including placing himself at the centre of a dangerous Buddhist schism. Yet even more surprising than the political, Norman convinces, is the Dalai Lama s astonishing spiritual practice, rooted in magic, vision, and prophecy details of which are illuminated in this book for the first time.A revelatory life story of one of today s most radical, charismatic, and beloved world leaders.