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written in stone

Photo above: Tibetan hard at work, chipping away at a mantra on slate.

Photo below: mantra chiselled in stone: Om Mani Padme Hum
—this one is so ancient that nobody is quite sure what it means anymore

Mantra in stone

email the author
himmies757 (at) gmail.com

books by the author

This Fragile Planet

THIS FRAGILE PLANET:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Environment

Compiled & edited by Michael Buckley.
*Silver medal winner in the 2022 Independent Publishers Book Awards in the Nature category

Print edition, September 2021, Sumeru Books
Comprises 120 pages, full colour throughout.
ISBN: 978-1-896559-73-5
For more information, see page on this site.

This Fragile Planet

THIS FRAGILE PLANET:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Environment

Compiled & edited by Michael Buckley.
*Silver medal winner in the 2022 Independent Publishers Book Awards in the Nature category
152 pages, 117 photos. Digital photobook published December 2020 on Apple Books platform
Digital edition published by ThunderHorse Media in 2020

How can ancient Tibetan Buddhist beliefs help in times of climate chaos? With a code of secular ethics, as promoted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This digital photobook presents an ethical approach to dealing with the urgent issues of climate change and taking care of our delicate ecosystems. With 85 inspiring quotes from the Dalai Lama matched to 117 superb photos, this digital work showcases the majesty of the Tibetan Plateau. And reveals on-going attacks on its precious ecosystems—that impact the whole of Asia, and far beyond. His Holiness's urgent message—fostering a creed of compassion for Mother Earth—concerns our very survival on this planet.

The photobook has been compiled and edited by Tibet expert Michael Buckley, with approval from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Snow Leopard's new friend

The Snow Leopard's New Friend:
Eco-Tales from Tibet

by Michael Buckley
*Bronze medal winner in the 2022 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards in the Environmental Issues category
Print edition, Sumeru Books. 134 pages, illustrated, full colour, 7.5 x 9.25 in
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Leopards-New-Friend/dp/1896559778/
ISBN 978-1-896559-77-3
For more information, see page on this site

The Snow Leopard's new friend

The Snow Leopard's New Friend:
Eco-Tales from Tibet

by Michael Buckley
*Bronze medal winner in the 2022 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards in the Environmental Issues category
152 pages, digital edition published on Amazon Kindle, December 2020

Ten tales from Tibet: meet the amazing animals of the Tibetan Plateau, from the ghost-like Snow Leopard to the bright-eyed Eurasian Eagle-owl. And in between are the Red Panda, Himalayan Griffon, Tibetan Antelope, Tibetan Brown Bear, Takin, Wild Yak, Tibetan Sand Fox, Smooth-coated Otter, and Black-necked Crane. Set against the majesty of the Tibetan plateau, these tales aim to inspire conservation—and draw attention to the environmental problems of Tibet. A section at the back provides real profiles of the animals featured, along with another section on Activities and Activism. Illustrated with artwork and photography, these tales convey an eco-message about the need to live in harmony with nature, not fighting against it.

"I read The Snow Leopard's New Friend with my nieces and nephews. This is the first time the kids have seen all of the Tibetan Plateau animals represented in one book. As Tibetan children of refugees born and raised in the US, a connection to the Tibetan landscape can seem far removed. The Snow Leopard's New Friend brought the connection to Tibet closer for my kids. The Tibetan landscape, its flora, fauna, people, all came alive for the kids through these pages and I am very grateful. Now the kids remember the Tibetan animals through the book's stories and they make me read and reread stories again and again."

—Tsechu Dolma, Tibetan environmental activist

Tibet, Disrupted

Tay Tang Tan Vo

Tibet, Disrupted
by Michael Buckley
*winner of Silver Award, Benjamin Franklin Digital Book Awards, California, 2017
more info on this site

Tibet, Disrupted Vietnamese ebook translation, done by volunteers, published 2021. Available on Amazon Kindle

Dr Le Anh Tuan
Dr Le Anh Tuan, Vietnamese Mekong expert, presenting a talk based on the Vietnamese translation, at Cantho, during Earth Week, April 2021.

Meltdown in Tibet

Meltdown in Tibet:
China's Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia

by Michael Buckley
www.amazon.com
publication date: November 2014
More info on this site

Tibet: the Bradt Travel Guide book cover

Tibet: the Bradt Travel Guide
by Michael Buckley
more info on this site
Fourth edition, Published 2018 by Bradt Travel Guides, UK. Paperback 392pp, 42 maps and plans, 16pp colour section with double-page colour map. Available on Amazon sites worldwide. Also published in a digital version, as an ebook, available on Amazon Kindle and other platforms.
www.amazon.com

'The most thumbed of all my books on Tibet. I might have had some trouble with the yak butter tea, but Buckley made everything else wonderfully palatable. A must-read.'

—Michael Palin, who used this book on the road
   when making the TV series Himalaya

Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream book cover

Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream
by Michael Buckley
Available on Amazon Kindle
more info on this site

'This is an esoteric but interesting guide to vast stretches of the Himalayas. While not exhaustive, it comes at places that have been written about ad infinitum from left field. It proves there are always new ways of looking at the same thing.'

—The Sunday Telegraph, UK

Eccentric Explorers book cover

Eccentric Explorers
by Michael Buckley
*Winner in the Biography category of the National Indie Excellence Awards (USA, 2009)
more info on this site

Get in the saddle for a riproaring ride as you follow in the tracks of ten eccentric explorers—each on a quest to unlock the secrets of reclusive Tibet. Are they nuts? Are they crackers? You bet.

Travels in the Tibetan World book cover

Travels in the Tibetan world
by Michael Buckley

ebook version:
Travels in the Tibetan World is available for download onto iPad, iPhone and other digital devices under several platforms, including Kobo, Apple's iBooks, and Amazon Kindle.

print version:
out of print now, but you might find some copies on Amazon, published by Summersdale (UK) under the title Heartlands: Travels in the Tibetan World
*Heartlands won a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award, 2003, for Best Travel Book

'If you care about Tibet, or Tibetans, or the very idea of Tibet in the world, you must read Heartlands: Travels in the Tibetan World. With great humor, patience, and more than a little love, Michael Buckley roams this vast land top to bottom and east to west, and in the process makes the reader burn with a very un-Buddhist desire to tramp in his footsteps.'

—James O'Reilly, Travelers' Tales series editor

Planet Ocean Blues

Planet Ocean Blues: How bogus Traditional Chinese Medicine practices are decimating valuable marine life

ebook version:
Planet Ocean Blues is available for download onto iPad, iPhone and other digital devices under several platforms, including Apple's iBooks and Amazon Kindle.

This is a small book about a vast subject: the Ocean. Or more precisely, about the potential extinction of certain marine species in the Ocean. Or even more precisely, about the potential extinction of marine species due to superstitious beliefs promoted by bogus practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Stories about extinction of marine species due to TCM is the theme. Stories—because readers may not remember facts, but they do remember stories. With lots of photos—because seeing is believing.

'This photobook is a work of love from Michael Buckley's extensive time spent in research and underwater. He has zeroed in one of the greatest dangers to life in the sea—illicit trade for fake medicines in Asia—and illustrates what we can do about it. The underwater photos, many taken by the author, reveal mysterious and beautiful life normally seen by only fortunate scuba divers. These contrast with photos taken of the faded body parts in markets. Highly recommended for the visual journey beneath the surface and how the massive and worthless collecting can be stopped.'

—Bill Weir, diver and author

Xtinction Blues book cover

Xtinction Blues
Digital photobook by Michael Buckley, published 2022.

A personal take on the Traditional Chinese Medicine use of animal parts—such as tiger penis, rhino horn, pangolin scales and bear bile. Wherein the author goes for the jugular on the absurd practices of unscrupulous TCM quacks who trade in animal parts.

Best of Mekong Review Pilgrimage ChroniclesTravelers' Tales book covers

Contributor to these anthologies: Best of Mekong Review, The Pilgrimage Chronicles, Travelers' Tales Tibet, Travelers' Tales Thailand, Travelers' Tales China, Travelers' Tales India
www.amazon.com | www.travelerstales.com


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