A Fine Guide / Novel / Memoir to the Region - Rated 
I bought this book hoping it would contain encounters and descriptions of the wildlife of Tibet. In this respect I was in for a disappointment as it pays very little attention to the subject. Despite this I ended up finishing the book in three days!
`Heartlands' is recollection of Buckley's various journeys to Tibet and vividly depicts the many adventures he experienced during his travels, including a interview with the Dalhi Lama! Humorous, dramatic, and moving anecdotes pack the pages and leave one with a sense of wonder and longing for this almost mythical place.
Buckley focuses largely on the cultures of the area. He experiences the ongoing political conflicts and social tensions and occasionally becomes directly involved - he was once questioned at length by the Chinese military!
With the array of amazing wildlife Tibet has I think it a little remiss of Buckley not to refer to it more, and also because he does not always write in chronological order so it can be hard at times to follow his journey. Some may also find his descriptions of the many monasteries slightly repetitive.
The book is extremely well written, not taking the form of a tourist guide which you might expect from a man used to writing travel books. `Heartlands' was not what I was expecting but turned out to be a fascinating and inspiring account of a culture under threat of extinction.
Fascinating, informative and fun. - Rated 
Michael Buckley is one of the top authorities on Tibetan travel - having written the current edition of the Bradt Tibet guide and a previous edition of the Lonely Planet Tibet guide - so you would expect this book to be informative. But it goes beyond that. Buckley has a great sense of humour and you soon find yourself chuckling away every few pages which is a precious rarity in a book on Tibet. An extra bonus is that this book does not just cover the current political area of Tibet but the much larger geographical area, so you get great stories too on Mustang, Bhutan and the surrounding states. Definitely worth getting if you are thinking of going anywhere near Tibet or if you just want to expand your knowledge of the region and have fun at the same time. Add it to your list. You'll enjoy it!
Very readable and entertaining - Rated
Heartlands is a very entertaining read for anyone who has visited or is considering going to visit the Tibetan world or for anyone interested in the geography, religion and culture of the area. It’s casts a wry glance over the travelling community providing some eccentric characters along the way and provides useful insights into the political situation facing Tibet. Highly recommended.
Great bedside or roadside reading (preferably in Tibet!) - Rated
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.
Travel with a Tibetan Expert - Rated
Can you imagine the privilege of travelling with a companion who has been visiting Tibet for ten years - when you are visiting for the first time? This book contains all Buckley's best adventures over those years, a wealth of readable information on all that he sees, and his very well informed observation and explanation. At times he made me laugh out loud (I loved his section on 'how to engage the Chinese in Tibet in a conversation about the Dalai Lama: 'Why is it that a billion Chinese are afraid of one man?' 'We are not afraid of him!' 'Then why won't you talk about him?' Brilliant!) And he constantly worked the magic of a travel writer and had me wondering when I could pack. This book should become compulsory reading before any visit to Tibet, or Dharamsala, ir Ladakh, or the Himalayas or Mongolia or Bhutan and if, like me you missed Heartlands before you went, then read it on your return. If only everyone who went to Tibet knew as much as this then maybe the Chinese Government would have to give Tibet back to the Tibetans...
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