With nearly a hundred exceptional watercolor illustrations and a comprehensive text, this book unveils, for the first time, Tibetan architecture in all its splendor. Fluent in Tibetan, author-illustrator Michel Peissel spent 45 years investigating the remotest regions of Greater Tibet, embarking on 29 expeditions on foot and horseback to reach the lesser-known fortresses, chapels, and monasteries that he sketched and painted for this exquisite volume.

As we observe in these pages, the Tibetan nation and culture remain very much alive even though the land has been petitioned and appropriated by China, India, Pakistan, and Nepal. From ancient monasteries and palatial fortresses to the new, elegant buildings that are still being built across occupied Tibet, Michel Peissel's magnificent watercolors cannot but foster a heightened appreciation for the subtle beauty and grandeur of Tibetan architecture, confirming the extent of its influence and its remarkable originality.