INTRODUCTION: WHERE MANY ROADS MEET ; PART 1: LADAKH: MOUNTAIN AND VALLEY: ; 1. Approaches ; 2. Profile of a Landscape ; 3. Creatures of the Wild: Species at Risk ; PART 2: LADAKH PAST: ; 4. The Old Kingdom ; 5. A Change of Direction ; 6. Hazardous Trails ; PART 3: LADAKH PRESENT: ; 7. The Daily Round ; 8. Polyandry and Polo ; 9. The Native Genius ; 10. Change ; 11. Buddhists, Muslim and Christians ; 12. The Gompas, a Living Heritage ; GLOSSARY ; SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY ; INDEX

Valued as a lively, readable, and reliable introduction to Ladakh and its people over the years, the current edition is a benchmark study of a society in transition in the early twenty-first century. Retaining the basic information from the earlier edition, the book documents the profound changes that have taken place since 1996, including the effects of the Kargil war