High Road to China

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''Splendid and fascinating ... Teltscher has made remarkable use of her source material, aided by the constantly perceptive and witty tone of Bogle''s own writings'' - Patrick French, Sunday Times

''It is hard to imagine this fascinating story being told with greater sensitivity or skill'' - Sunday Telegraph

''Teltscher is a remarkable new historian ... wholly original'' - William Dalrymple

''Thrilling and fascinating ... Letters, journals and documents are woven into the flowing narrative, which is wonderfully vivid and evocative'' - Jenny Uglow
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An unlikely meeting between a young Scotsman and the Panchen Lama gives birth to a remarkable friendship

In 1774 British traders longed to open relations with China so they sent a young Scotsman, George Bogle, as an envoy to Tibet. Bogle became smitten by what he saw there, and struck up a remarkable friendship with the Panchen Lama.

This gripping book tells the story of their two extraordinary journeys across some of the harshest and highest terrain in the world: Bogle''s mission, and the Panchen Lama''s state visit to China, on which British hopes were hung. Piecing together extracts from Bogle''s private papers, Tibetan biographies of the Panchen Lama, the account of a wandering Hindu monk and the writings of the Emperor himself, Kate Teltscher deftly reconstructs the momentous meeting of these very different worlds.