In 2008, Bhutan triumphantly took the stage as the world’s youngest democracy. But despite its growing prominence—and rising scholarly interest in the country—Bhutan remains one of the least studied, and least well-known places on the planet. Karma Phuntsho’s The History of Bhutan is the first book to offer a comprehensive history of Bhutan in English. Along with a detailed social and political analysis, it offers substantive discussions of Bhutan’s geography and culture; the result is the clearest, richest account of this nation and its history ever published for general readers. A 2015 Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title Award Winner

In recent years, the remote kingdom of Bhutan has increasingly attracted the attention of the world. In 2008, it emerged as the world’s youngest democracy and in the same year crowned the world’s youngest monarch. This was followed by the new King’s colourful wedding in 2011. Today, it continues to enchant the rest of the world with its policy of Gross National Happiness and has become a very popular destination for travel. But, despite its growing popularity and the rising scholarly interest in the country, Bhutan remains one of the most poorly studied places on earth. Karma Phuntsho’s The History of Bhutan is the first-ever attempt to cover the entire history of Bhutan in some detail in English, combining both traditional perspectives and modern academic analysis. Written by a leading expert on the country, the book tells the story of Bhutan in a narrative style interspersed with some analytical and topical discussion, and numerous citations and translations from earlier writings. It is primarily a historical account, but it also includes substantive discussions of Bhutan’s geography, culture and society to give the readers an incisive introduction to the country.

In the tradition of Iron and Silk and Touch the Dragon, Jamie Zeppa’s memoir of her years in Bhutan is the story of a young woman’s self-discovery in a foreign land. It is also the exciting début of a new voice in travel writing. When she left for the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan in 1988, Zeppa was committing herself to two years of teaching and a daunting new experience. A week on a Caribbean beach had been her only previous trip outside Canada; Bhutan was on the other side of the world, one of the most isolated countries in the world known as the last Shangri-La, where little had changed in centuries and visits by foreigners were restricted. Clinging to her bags full of chocolate, hair conditioner and Immodium, she began the biggest challenge of her life, with no idea she would fall in love with the country and with a Bhutanese man, end up spending nine years in Bhutan, and begin a literary career with her account of this transformative journey. At her first posting in a remote village of eastern Bhutan, she is plunged into an overwhelmingly different culture with squalid Third World conditions and an impossible language. Her house has rats and fleas and she refuses to eat the local food, fearing the rampant deadly infections her overly protective grandfather warned her about. Gradually, however, her fear vanishes. She adjusts, begins to laugh, and is captivated by the pristine mountain scenery and the kind students in her grade 2 class. She also begins to discover for herself the spiritual serenity of Buddhism. A transfer to the government college of Sherubtse, where the housing conditions are comparatively luxurious and the students closer to her own age, gives her a deeper awareness of Bhutan’s challenges: the lack of personal privacy, the pressure to conform, and the political tensions. However, her connection to Bhutan intensifies when she falls in love with a student, Tshewang, and finds herself pregnant. After a brief sojourn in Canada to give birth to her son, Pema Dorji, she marries Tshewang and makes Bhutan her home for another four years. Zeppa’s personal essay about her culture shock on arriving in Bhutan won the 1996 CBC/Saturday Night literary competition and appeared in the magazine. She flew home to accept the prize, where people encouraged her to pursue her writing. Her letters from Bhutan also featured on CBC’s Morningside. The book that grew out of this has been published in Canada and the United States to ecstatic reviews, followed by British, German, Dutch, Italian and Spanish editions. Although cultural differences finally separated Jamie and Tshewang in 1997 while she was writing the book and she returned to Canada, she will always feel at home in Bhutan. Zeppa shares her compelling insights into this land and culture, but Beyond the Sky and the Earth is more than a travel book. With rich, spellbinding prose and bright humour, it describes a personal journey in which Zeppa acquires a deeper understanding of what it means to leave one’s home behind, and undergoes a spiritual transformation.

BHUTAN is a smaller companion volume to the world's largest published book, the 5x7' photographic book called BHUTAN. This book opens to nearly three feet, and offers an eyeful of imagery from several expeditions across the legendary mountain kingdom. Teams from MIT and Friendly Planet traveled extensively with two young people, Choki Lhamo (age 14, a girl from Trongsa who aspires to be a doctor) and Gyelsey Loday (also 14, son of the head lama in far-off Phongmey). This book shares a bit of their beautiful corner of the world. Proceeds are largely tax-deductible and are donated to help Bhutan's schools and scholars.

A small, sparsely populated kingdom at the eastern end of the Himalayas, Bhutan is often described as one of the most isolated countries on earth. In this unprecedented portrait an informed and insightful mix of political history and travel writing Omair Ahmad shows that the opposite, in fact, is true. Located at the intersection of several political, cultural and religious currents, Bhutan has been a part of, and been shaped by, some of the most transformative events in Asian and world history. Beginning with Padmasambhavas epic work to establish Buddhism in the Himalayas, The Kingdom at the Centre of the World tells the story of Bhutans emergence as an independent Buddhist nation in the seventeenth century under the Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who turned his back on Tibet; the exploits of Jigme Namgyal the Black Regent who united Bhutan and fought the armies of British India to a standstill; and the remarkable Wangchuk monarchs, who have ruled Bhutan since the beginning of the twentieth century. Alongside, the book also examines events around Bhutan that have affected it profoundly: the rise and fall of Tibet and the Mongol and British empires; the spread of Nepali-origin people across South Asia; Sikkims dramatic loss of sovereignty; and the conflicting territorial ambitions of India and China. Most fascinating of all, the book argues that it is in Bhutan more, perhaps, than in any other nation that alternative modes of governance and progress are being tested in an increasingly homogenized world. As it chooses Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross National Product (GNP), grapples with a complicated refugee crisis, experiments with a guided democracy and tries to retain its cultural heritage while it opens up to the world, Bhutan could have important lessons for us all

Author's personal memoirs, travelogue, history and folklore of Bhutan.

Chiefly covers the period from early to 1906.

Bhutan is a country in the Himalayas with a relatively new education system and a unique governmental philosophy known as Gross National Happiness. This book explores the history, culture, challenges, and opportunities of schooling in Bhutan. It discusses topics including historical perspectives on Buddhist monastic education, the regional and international influence on educational development, traditional medical education, higher education, and the evolution of Bhutanese educational policy, to name but a few. It also investigates contemporary challenges to schooling in Bhutan such as adult education, inclusive education, early childhood education, rurality, and gender. Throughout the book, the developmental philosophy of Gross National Happiness is explored as a novel and culturally vital approach to education in Bhutan. The majority of the authors are prominent Bhutanese scholars and educational leaders, with select non-Bhutanese international scholars with strong links to Bhutan also contributing. This book is a valuable resource not only for those specifically interested in education in Bhutan, but for anyone with an interest in South Asian studies, general Asian studies, educational development, comparative education, Buddhist education, and the Gross National Happiness development philosophy.

The Unexplored Kingdom takes the reader on a journey through the cultural and ethnic heritage of Bhutan, reflected through the author's own love and fascination for the country and its people Photographs and information obtained at a grass-roots level reveal aspects of the simple but sophisticated lifestyles and traditions of the Bhutanese, which have been carried forward even to this day This book aims to record knowledge of the folk-life of Bhutan, preserving them for researchers and future generations Bhutan is a country rich in ethnic, cultural, and religious traditions, having moved towards modernization only in the latter half of the 20th century. While some initiatives have been undertaken to understand the history of the land and its people, there is so much that is yet to be discovered. It is this fascination for Bhutan and its people that drove the author to pen The Unexplored Kingdom: People and Folk Cultures of Bhutan. The book reveals the diverse facets of the Land of the Thunder Dragon, exploring its historical background, ethnic lifestyles, and cultural and religious practices.