Kailas Histories demonstrates how British colonial, Hindu modernist, and New Age interests synthesised historically diverse representations to construct the understanding of Tibet's great pilgrimage centre Mount Kailas - and India's Gangotri - as ancient sacred sites embodying a universal sacrality.

Alex McKay, PhD (London University SOAS: South Asian History; 1995) has published around forty articles and monographs on Indo-Tibetan history, including The History of Tibet (3 vols: 2003). He is a retired SOAS, UCL, and IIAS (Leiden) Research Fellow.