The method is programmatic openness, deep listening, a willingness to be waylaid; the effect, a prismatic picture of history as experienced and understood by individuals in their full amplitude and idiosyncrasy.

... a brilliantly reported and eye-opening work of narrative nonfiction.

... candid, heartbreaking stories of real Tibetans who have lived through periods of great tumult in their homeland. The stories are beautifully rendered and walk readers through the events that shook Ngaba, a town in Tibet that became synonymous in the 21st century with tragic self-immolations, and is geographically a difficult place to visit. By showing how people’s individual lives unfolded and the hardships and dangers they endured, Demick sheds light on how Chinese oppression led many Tibetans to fight back, sacrificing their lives in the hopes of preserving their culture and their peoples’ right to freedom. Readers will be moved by the tragedies and triumphs of these unforgettable individuals and will develop a greater understanding of those who call the 'rooftop of the world' their home.

... a deeply textured, densely reported and compelling exploration of Ngaba, Sichuan.

Why Ngaba? Why was this 'nothing little town,' which got its first traffic light only in 2013, 'putting Tibet back in the headlines'? Why were 'so many of its residents willing to destroy their bodies by one of the most horrific methods imaginable'? The title of Ms. Demick’s book offers an answer, evoking blasphemous incidents from 1935, the remembrance of which has been kept alive by generations of unforgiving townsfolk.

By following her characters’ fluctuating fortunes through the decades, Demick is able to convey the texture of everyday life in the town.

Demick anchors her Tibetan chronicle to Ngaba, a town on the Tibetan Plateau in the former kingdom of Mei. Gonpo, a daughter of the last Mei king, who was deposed by the Chinese in 1958, is at the center of the group portrait Demick meticulously composes, weaving in defining details of everyday life as she recounts harrowing stories of brutality, loss, sacrifice, and love that embody the larger story of Tibet’s long fight for freedom.

In this heartbreaking and doggedly reported account, journalist Demick...views the tragic history of Tibet under Chinese rule through the stories of people with roots in Ngaba County, the site of the Mei kingdom in the remote reaches of Sichuan province.

...a vibrant, often heartbreaking history of Tibet.