While Heinrich Harrer held the rank of a Nazi sergeant in the SS, he was a world renowned mountaineer and on expedition in the Indian Himalayas when he and his group were arrested by British forces at the outbreak of World War II. With his escape to Tibet (where he stayed until 1951) he never saw active combat.
After his Nazi affiliation was revealed by the German magazine Stern in 1997, he expressed regret for his involvement with the Party.[3]
The book has been criticized by Marxist political scientist Michael Parenti for its whitewashing portrayal of Tibet before the involvement of the Chinese Communist Party. Parenti rebukes Harrer's sanitized portrayal of Tibet and instead describes it as a feudal society consisting of slavery, lifelong servitude, and serfdom before being “liberated” by the PLA.[4]
Publication
Seven Years in Tibet was translated into 53 languages, became a bestseller in the United States in 1954, and sold three million copies.[5]
At the beginning of the Flamingo edition of the book, a message from the 14th Dalai Lama praises the work: "Harrer has always been such a friend to Tibet. His most important contribution to our cause, his book, Seven Years in Tibet, introduced hundreds of thousands of people to my country." When Harrer died in 2006, the Dalai Lama repeated his praise of the author and sent a message of sympathy to Harrer's widow.[2]
Pop culture
Two films have been based on the book: Seven Years in Tibet (1956), a 76-minute documentary directed by Hans Nieter which includes both movies shot by Harrer during his stay in Tibet and various scenes from his adventures reconstructed by Harrer himself, and Seven Years in Tibet (1997), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Brad Pitt as Harrer and David Thewlis as Aufschnaiter.[1]
There is also a David Bowie song entitled "Seven Years in Tibet", from his album Earthling (1997). Bowie read the book when he was 19 and it left a strong impression on him at the time.[6]
