Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town

Barbara Demick travels through Tibetan regions of China to reveal everyday life under political repression. Through intimate portraits of monks, families, and activists, she shows how faith, culture, and identity persist despite surveillance and control. Demick’s reporting is sensitive and rigorous, grounding geopolitics in lived experience. The book exposes the slow erosion of cultural autonomy alongside acts of quiet resistance. Her narrative is calm but deeply affecting. It is an essential account of modern China beyond official narratives.