This is a book review for two books. "Holder of the White Lotus: The Lives of the Dalai Lama" by Alexander Norman, and "The Open Road: The Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama" by Pico Iyer.

One quote: "Iyer is careful not to offend anybody in his writing, skirting sensitive issues such as the shoddy treatment of new arrivals in Dharamsala by the established Tibetan exiles, who regard the refugees as too “Chinese” in their language and behaviour. ", or another "He avoids tackling the central question thrown up by the Dalai Lama's decision to become a lama to the globe: has his strategy of being a ubiquitous man of peace while simultaneously encouraging the western pro-Tibet lobby brought any real benefit to the 6m Tibetans who continue to live under Chinese communist rule, or has it alienated the hard-faced men in Beijing still further?"