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George Patterson

 

 

 

Some of the world’s greatest explorers have the most unlikely beginnings. Take George Patterson for example. There was nothing in his early life to indicate that this son of a Scottish minister would go on to lead a life of adventure, travel and intrigue. Yet George turned his back on all that he knew and journeyed into remote Tibet at the conclusion of the Second World War. He not only underwent a great spiritual awakening there, George also became involved with the Tibetan resistance to the invading Chinese Communist army. George’s subsequent equestrian journey, across the Himalayas in the winter of 1949, to deliver a plea for help from Tibet to the outside world is now the stuff of legend. Hailed as “Patterson of Tibet,” George is still writing and recently lectured at Cambridge about his travels.

For more information about this remarkable man, please visit www.georgepatterson.net

George's late wife, universally known as  "Dr. Meg," discovered a scientific means of helping addicts recover completely from drug-addiction:  please visit her website:  www.drmeg.net

In 2008 the prestigious Explorers Web published this story about George and his unceasing championing of Tibet. 

New!  Classic Travel Books is proud to announce that twelve more of George's books have been republished!  For information on any of these new titles, please email us.

Click on any book cover to enlarge it.


Tibet in Revolt

George Patterson was a missionary who has worked and travelled in the country, speaks the language and cherishes an affectionate respect for the Tibetan character. Patterson is an original, a man of immense gusto and physical resilience, and the merit of this book, apart from its brisk descriptive prose, is that it is the product of long and close observation at first hand. In Tibet in Revolt the author provides a fascinating survey of Sino-Tibetan relations from the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century A.D. to the Chinese Communist invasion in 1950. This tragic tale recalls the unsuccessful uprising of the Tibetan people and traces the whole pattern of events which culminated in the flight of the Dalai Lama to India. It is safe to say that no one else has been able to etch this bloodstained chapter of contemporary Asian history with greater clarity or more compassion than Patterson, who been an authority on Tibet for more than sixty years.

Requiem for Tibet


In this remarkable autobiography George Patterson, confidant of the Dalai Lama, tells of the mission that took him to Tibet and of his part in Tibet's struggle to withstand China. Brought up in a Plymouth Brethren background, Patterson travelled, at the call of God, to Tibet in 1946. Arriving in eastern Tibet he was befriended by the charismatic Khamba chieftain Topgyay and threw himself into the colourful Tibetan life and its precarious politics as the Communists pushed towards Peking. After three years of living among the Tibetans, Patterson was sent as their emissary, through snow blizzards and landslides, over the mighty Himalayas to India to warn the Western governments of the impending Chinese takeover and to be the publicity 'point man' of the Tibetan revolt. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Patterson was threatened with expulsion from India for revealing the atrocities and, after being exonerated, eventually returned to Britain. He visited Tibet again in 1964, to film the Khamba rebels in action against the Chinese, and once more in 1987, when he concluded that the Tibetan nation was doomed. Requiem for Tibet is a vivid account of George Patterson's extraordinary life, and of his faith in divine intervention, but it also tells the story of the plight of Tibet-a condemned nation once the Chinese invasion took its toll.

Gods and Guerrillas

George Patterson

ISBN 1590481747

 

 

 

 

 

The story of a Scotsman’s perilous undercover journey into Chinese-occupied Tibet.

What do you do when adventure calls at an inopportune time? Who do you turn to, but God, when you need answers to how you should travel along an uncertain road? These were the type of personal and spiritual dilemmas George Patterson faced when risk knocked at his door late one night. The missionary George Patterson had married brilliant Scottish scientist, Dr. Meg, and they were raising a family, when his adopted homeland entered their life one last time. Think of Tibet, that frozen kingdom hiding behind its protective barrier of high mountains. Now add in the fact the Red Chinese had recently invaded the country and placed a bounty on Patterson’s head for his role in rescuing the Dalai Lama. Next, bring in a band of determined Tibetan guerrillas who offer Patterson a chance to witness their attack on the invading Communist army. There’s just one catch – he has to leave his wife and children long enough to accompany them on what looks like a one-way journey. The problem is no other westerner can get into Tibet, except Patterson, so the outside world is oblivious to the Chinese invasion and the atrocities being perpetrated on the Tibetans. That’s why the rebels need Patterson of Tibet to make one last journey. Just before you leave on this literary journey of a lifetime, don’t forget to tie down the independent English film-maker who will document this amazing journey with the Tibetan rebels. Now you’re ready to set off on a roller-coaster of a ride packed with undercover action, fast-shooting freedom fighters, revengeful Communists and a Scotsman who’s seen more excitement than a dozen other men. Full of sorcery and shamans, political observations and religious beliefs, Patterson’s “Gods and Guerrillas” is a rare glimpse into the 1960s forgotten war when a handful of Tibetans took on the might of the Red Army.

For more information, please go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble.

Tragic Destiny


Having gone to remote Tibet after receiving a directive from the Lord, George Patterson of Scotland was a young man whose spiritual duty consisted of assisting the Khamba tribesmen of the remote mountain kingdom. After having mastered the language and local customs, the resilient Scotsman had become nearly Tibetan himself - when word came that the Chinese Communists were preparing to invade Patterson's adopted homeland. In desperate need of military aid and international protection, Tibetan leaders asked Patterson to make a perilous winter-time horse ride over the Himalayas into neighbouring India. After having survived this seemingly impossible task, Patterson was halted from returning to Tibet by a host of difficulties and new hazards. One of the most lethal threats came from the enraged Chinese authorities who issued orders to have Patterson liquidated. No one has brought a greater array of facts and first-hand observation to bear on the subject of how Patterson's friends and former hosts, the Khamba tribesmen, were determined to resist the communist invaders. Nor has anyone argued Tibet's case with more passion than this author. Thus Tragic Destiny is an astonishing and readable book which recounts the political fortunes of one of the world's most unfortunate countries.

Journey with Loshay

George Patterson

ISBN 1590481682

 

This is an amazing book written by a truly remarkable man!

The Long Rider author was a Scottish medical missionary who had become Tibetan in all but his broad Highland brand of personal enthusiasm. Relying both on his companionship with God and on his own strength, he undertook a life few can have known, and a journey of emergency across the wildest parts of Tibet.

In 1950 the Communists advanced into Tibet, and a warning had to be taken to India. The only way to achieve this was by riding through the Himalayas!

“Though it was winter Patterson chose a 300-mile route to Sadiyah, in northern Assam, which hardly anyone had completed before. The snows on the high passes might beat him, but at any rate he would be travelling first-class by Tibetan standards. He knew how to behave if the Tibetan winter would let him. If he could find the villages he had authority to commandeer relays of food and transport; the headmen would be (and were) beaten up if these were not forthcoming. As for his companions of the Khamba tribe, he could beat them at most of their own games. He was a superb horseman; he loved their horseplay and their ribaldries; his body was an engine as efficient as theirs for mobile operation in low temperatures at 20,000 feet; he could forget about baths for two months as happily as they could for their whole lives.” said London’s The Times.

This classic narrative matches in sheer virility the equestrian journey it records.

For more information please go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble.

The Unquiet Frontier

The author of this historical study, George Patterson, is more than just a casual eyewitness to the emergence, and global expansion, of Communism. Having personally participated in the Tibetan resistance to Chinese communist invasion, Patterson took up residence in various parts of Asia, during which time he dedicated himself to documenting the aggressive policies of this increasingly belligerent political system. One of Patterson's most insightful works was "The Unquiet Frontier," in which he explains the secretive political struggle which occurred between Russian and Chinese communist authorities. Though Peking and Moscow were eager to fool the West into believing that they shared a "border of peace," in fact the red rivals were competing for ideological power in Mongolia, Manchuria and Korea. The resulting historical study is a detailed and fascinating account of this forgotten conflict between political titans.
Peking versus Delhi

 

When India and China gained new governments, with new leaders and policies, and sharing as they do almost half the world's population, it became evident that it was only a matter of time before they came into conflict. For ten years one of the most fascinating and momentous struggles took place as these two giants manoeuvred for the leadership of Asia. For fifteen years the author lived in and on the borders of those countries, and was a close personal friend of many of the leading figures. This book will be essential reading for a long time to come for everyone interested in Asia.

Patterson of Tibet

George Patterson

ISBN 159048214x

 

 

 

"Patterson of Tibet," is the autobiography of George Patterson, the colourful Scot who has linked his life to that mysterious mountain kingdom.  The Long Rider author was a Scottish medical missionary who went to Tibet shortly after the second World War. There he became Tibetan in all but name, adapting to the culture and learning the language fluently. When the Communist Chinese army advanced into Tibet, the country’s leaders knew a plea for help had to be taken to India. The only way to achieve this was by riding through the snow-locked Himalayas over a mountain pass even the locals were afraid to try.  So Patterson undertook an emergency equestrian  journey across the wildest parts of Tibet. “He was a superb horseman whose body was as efficient as the Tibetans,” reported London’s Times.   

Years later, with the Red Chinese still occupying Tibet, and with a bounty on his head for his role in rescuing the Dalai Lama, a band of determined Tibetan guerrillas invited Patterson to witness their attack on the invading Communist army. No other westerner could get into Tibet, except Patterson, so the outside world was still oblivious to the Chinese invasion and the atrocities being perpetrated on the Tibetans. So Patterson went back into his adopted country – illegally – and with a film crew!

This intense autobiography goes on to reveal how Patterson crossed swords with India's Prime Minister Nehru, helped with the rescue of the Dalai Lama and befriended a host of unique world figures ranging from Yehudi Menhuin to Eric Clapton. This is a vividly-written account of a life of high adventure and spiritual odyssey.

For more information, please go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble.

God's Fool

George Patterson's account of his amazing Tibetan Journey left many readers wondering how he came to be living in a log hut on top of a Tibetan house belonging to the leader of the Khambas, just before the Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet began. This controversial book explains what brought Patterson to that place at that time and what led up to his journey. Although there is plenty of physical adventure and hard riding with some magnificent descriptions of mountains and rivers, the emphasis here is on his beliefs, the driving force of his actions and decisions.
A Fool at Forty

 

The author went off with a television film crew to one of the most inaccessible spots on earth to dramatize the state of Tibetan refugees by filming a group of Tibetan Khamba guerrillas shooting a Chinese military convoy inside Tibet. This would make nonsense of the Chinese claim that the Tibetans wanted the Chinese in their country. The raid was a masterpiece of derring-do, involving extraordinary physical stamina at high altitudes and raw danger. Patterson's eye picks out the fascinating details that give a 'you are there' feeling. His dedication to this risky venture does make him appear a fool at the age of forty - but such a fool as heroes are made of.

 

Up and Down Asia

The author, the medical missionary author of that amazing book of travel and adventure Tibetan Journey (Journey with Loshay) and of that controversial book about his calling, God's Fool, has travelled up and down China, Tibet and northern India and he has often travelled rough. In the course of his wanderings there have been odd meetings with interesting people and bizarre incidents in out-of-the-way places which the subject of his previous books gave him no occasion to record, and many of these encounters with people, places and things are as amusing as they are extraordinary. In Up and Down Asia he has made a book of them. As each episode contains a 'circumstantial solecism,' or incongruity, or entertaining breach in the syntax of his life, he has grouped them under grammatical solecisms. Thus under 'Vehicles I Have Ridden On' we read, for instance, of a flight over flooded tea plantations in an aircraft with no floor-board in its cockpit and with its fabric repaired with a nightgown; or, under 'People I Have Talked with,' of Princess Irene, wife of Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark, or Prince Minwang of the Mongol tribe of Torgut. 'Dilemmas I Have been In' includes secret meetings with the Dalai Lama's eldest brother in flight from the Communists; 'Homes I Have Been to,' a riotous celebration of New Year in Kalimpong with Khamba friends; and 'Situations I have been Embarrassed By,' teaching Tibetans to swim.
Christ versus Marx – the China Paradox

Ironically and paradoxically it was Christianity in China which paved the way for Marxism to become China's first national religion. It was in China's Christian schools and universities that the leaders of China's Marxism were educated in Western ideas. This fascinating historical phenomenon is portrayed with unique skill and insight by a Christian writer who watched at first hand the final death of Westernised Christianity and the rise of a dynamic Marxism; then watched the rise and spread of a revitalised Biblical Christianity eventually survive and triumph over a dying Marxism.
Christianity in Communist China

 

 

In a dramatic style the author takes us behind the scenes and shows how the church in China came under the power of the Communist Party and the struggles involved as the Party increased its pressure. Communism in China has not succeeded either in eliminating a vital Christianity or in compelling all Christians to toe the Party line. This is no ordinary book. The journalist's trained eye and sensitive, probing mind bring into sharp focus the intensity of the tension and struggle as two conflicting ideologies vie for the minds and loyalties of millions of people.

Mary Magdalene

George Patterson

ISBN 159048181X

 

Her life has been surrounded by mystery for more than two thousand years, all the while the story of Mary Magdalene has baffled historians, spawned secret societies and inspired best-selling novels such as The Da Vinci Code.

 Yet questions remain. Who was this beautiful woman who loved the most controversial Jew of the time, Jesus of Nazareth? Why was this notorious courtesan more honoured by Jesus than his own mother? What were the connections between this precocious sorceress to Herod, the ruthless Roman puppet governor, and Josephus, the ambitious Jewish philosopher?

This in-depth biography, Mary Magdalene – The Greatest Love Story Never Told, unlocks the enigmatic story of one of history’s most misunderstood women, providing not only the background of her life but also explaining Mary’s struggle to deal with her love for the man she believed was the Son of God.

Such a fascinating story could only be told by a scholar of unique ability and experience. George Patterson is that type of exceptional author, a man of action who has spent his life immersed in Biblical study, a missionary in Tibet turned equestrian explorer who rode across the snow-covered Himalayas on an errand of mercy, the author of many books on Christianity whose work as an undercover journalist brought him into frequent danger.

With his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures, coupled with his work as an historical researcher, Patterson has created a classic tale which finally resolves the riddle of Mary Magdalene.

 

For more information, please go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble.

The Power Factor

Can you be set free from addiction? What you need is power - power to break the habit, power to deal with the problems which drove you to them in the first place, power to heal the broken relationships with your family. This book is an attempt to make a wider contribution to the solutions in making, not just addicts, but a sick society, whole in mind, body and spirit.

The Paradise Factor

The authors believe that psychiatrists have failed to resolve the drug problem because they cannot address the basic spiritual factors involved in the complex nature of addition, while ecclesiastics have failed because they cannot tackle the political and social factors. It is this gap which the Patters are seeking to fill.
Addixion

The author of Addixion was already a world-famous international journalist who had written extensively on the criminal, political and social aspects of drug addictions, when his wife asked him to write a complementary book from his experiences to be used in conjunction with her unique four-to-ten days detoxification cure. She declared "NET is a 100 per cent cure for detoxification; but a 50 per cent cure for addictions". The condition of addiction is unique in that it is one of the few, if not the only, condition, in which two processes of healing are intimately intertwined. The author argues that the tragedy of the complex drug addiction problem is that it is now the victim of the "hot potato syndrome" where presidents, governments, armies, police, doctors, criminals, pharmaceutical corporations, and major banks, while aware of the major importance of the problem, are reluctant to tackle it because of the immensity of the social, financial, criminal and political implications, and each specialty involved passes on the problem to the other until the "hot potato cools" enough to ignore. It is the scale of demand of addictive substances from all sections of society in every nation which explains the reluctance of presidents and governments, the failures of doctors, the rivalries of law enforcement agencies, the cupidity of pharmaceutical companies and criminals - and the mind-staggering multi-billion pound profits.  Addixion not only addresses this "insoluble" problem, it analyzes why all existing psychological and empirical attempts at rehabilitation are failures and how a combination of NET detoxification and rehabilitation outlined in the book can solve the "world's drug problem".
For more information, please go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble.

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