Freedom in Exile
Encyclopedia
Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama is the second autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 of the 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...

, released in 1991. The Dalai Lama's first autobiography, My Land and My People, was published in 1962, a few years after he reestablished himself
Central Tibetan Administration
The Central Tibetan Administration , is an organisation based in India with the stated goals of "rehabilitating Tibetan refugees and restoring freedom and happiness in Tibet". It was established by the 14th Dalai Lama in 1959 shortly after his exile from Tibet...

 in India and before he became an international celebrity. He regards both of the autobiographies as authentic and re-issued My Land and My People in 1997 to coincide with the release of the film Kundun
Kundun
Kundun is a 1997 epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet...

. In the introduction, the Dalai Lama explains that he wrote the book to "to counter Chinese claims and misinformation" about the history of Tibet
History of Tibet
Tibetan history, as it has been recorded, is particularly focused on the history of Buddhism in Tibet. This is partly due to the pivotal role this religion has played in the development of Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchu cultures, and partly because almost all native historians of the country were...

. In the book's dedication, the Dalai Lama pleads that the international community "Help [Tibet] to be free, to be independent". The title "Freedom in exile" refers to the freedoms he says that India offers to him.

The idea for a second autobiography came from a British journalist, Alexander Norman, in the 1980s, who sat and taped the Dalai Lama for "several hours at a time" and wrote the book out of the manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

s. Freedom in Exile was timed to be released around the anti-Communist Revolutions of 1989
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...

, and the Dalai Lama's winning of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

. In a review, Rembert Weakland
Rembert Weakland
Rembert George Weakland was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1977 to 2002. He is the author of A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop, which explores Church reform issues, his homosexuality, and the child abuse crisis....

 called the book "a political one" and "a call for freedom". The autobiography starts with the Dalai Lama's "birth to a family of small farmers", selection as the Dalai Lama, tumultuous relationship with the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 (in which he claims many atrocities), and subsequent life in India. The book acknowledges "the cultural gaps between traditional Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

 and the scientific approaches of the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

", but has been criticized in the West for not having much religious content.
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