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The book covers the escape of Harrer and his companion, Peter Aufschnaiter, from a British internment camp in India.[1] Harrer and Aufschnaiter then traveled across Tibet to Lhasa, the capital. Here they spent several years, and Harrer describes the contemporary Tibetan culture in detail. Harrer subsequently became a tutor and friend of the 14th Dalai Lama.[citation needed]
It has been said that the book "provided the world with a final glimpse of life in an independent Tibetan state prior to the Chinese invasion."[2]
While Heinrich Harrer held the rank of a Nazi sergeant in the SS, he was a world renowned mountaineer and on expedition in the Indian Himalayas when he and his group were arrested by British forces at the outbreak of World War II. With his escape to Tibet (where he stayed until 1951) he never saw active combat.
After his Nazi affiliation was revealed by the German magazine Stern in 1997, he expressed regret for his involvement with the Party.[3]
The book has been criticized by Marxist political scientist Michael Parenti for its whitewashing portrayal of Tibet before the involvement of the Chinese Communist Party. Parenti rebukes Harrer's sanitized portrayal of Tibet and instead describes it as a feudal society consisting of slavery, lifelong servitude, and serfdom before being “liberated” by the PLA.[4]
Seven Years in Tibet was translated into 53 languages, became a bestseller in the United States in 1954, and sold three million copies.[5]
At the beginning of the Flamingo edition of the book, a message from the 14th Dalai Lama praises the work: "Harrer has always been such a friend to Tibet. His most important contribution to our cause, his book, Seven Years in Tibet, introduced hundreds of thousands of people to my country." When Harrer died in 2006, the Dalai Lama repeated his praise of the author and sent a message of sympathy to Harrer's widow.[2]
O'Connell, John (2019). Bowie's Books The Hundred Literary Heroes Who Changed His Life. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 8.