Maraini visited Tibet in 1937 and again in 1948. In 1951 he published Secret Tibet, an account that was a synthesis of the two journeys. After an interval of close to 50 years he returned to the text to revise, augment and update it in the light of the bruising historical realities of the Chinese occupation and the destruction of much of Tibet's cultural heritage, particularly during the violence of the "Cultural Revolution". Maraini's studies and journeys concentreated on the valleys and passes that bring travelers from India via Sikkim on their way to the forbidden city of Lhasa. Maraini spent much time in villages and monasteries along the way, at Gangtok, Phari, Iwang and Gyantse in particular. The photographs taken by the author now stand in many instances as a unique record of religious artifacts irrecoverably destroyed. This work is one of the outstanding accounts of life in Tibet and its social and cultural history.