Tibet: Caught in Time (Caught in Time: Great Photographic Archives)
For anyone interested in the Himalayas or Buddhism, this book is so interesting. It features the collection of photos made by two British diplomats  to Tibet in the early 1900's, John Claude White and Sir Charles Bell. Bell lived in Sikkim for two decades and photographed there and the majestic top of the world mountains. He documented life among the Tibetan people as it had been almost unchanged for many centuries before the Chinese occupation.  Bell, who came after White, also lived in region for decades and spoke fluent Tibetan.  He became a close friend of the 13th Dalai Lama and his family and, as such, was privy to many private events before the Dalai Lama had to seek refuge in India and was able to photograph and describe these occasions.  The historic commentaries comprise a special window in time and a place and way of life which are gone.  Their photographs and diaries and notes are  priceless collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum where Clarke is a curator.