In 1939, a young climber named Heinrich Harrer, already renowned for being part of the first team to conquer the treacherous north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps, embarked on a climbing expedition to India. However, the outbreak of World War II drastically altered his fate. Harrer, along with other German and Austrian nationals in India, was captured and imprisoned by the British.

In 1944, Harrer and a fellow prisoner of war managed a daring escape, seeking refuge in the rugged mountains of Tibet. Their journey was nothing short of epic—they traversed 65 mountain passes and endured the harsh Tibetan plateau in the depths of winter. Two years later, they arrived in the forbidden city of Lhasa, where they were surprisingly welcomed with warmth and hospitality. Harrer would go on to spend five years in Tibet, during which time he formed a close friendship with the teenage Dalai Lama, becoming both a confidant and tutor. However, with the looming threat of the Chinese Communist invasion in 1951, Harrer left Tibet. By 1953, he had chronicled his extraordinary experiences in his book, Seven Years in Tibet. The book, which captivated readers worldwide, was translated into 48 languages and sold over three million copies. Harrer, who lived to be 85, continued to explore and document other regions of the world, all while remaining a steadfast advocate for Tibet.

Yet, as the film adaptation of Seven Years in Tibet—with Brad Pitt portraying the young Harrer—was poised for release, a startling revelation surfaced. The German magazine Stern published evidence that Harrer had been a member of the Nazi Party during his youth in Austria. In response, writer Lewis M. Simons delved into the life story behind the book and the film, uncovering the profound impact of these revelations. Through extensive interviews with Heinrich Harrer, his wife, the Dalai Lama, and Jean-Jacques Annaud, the director of Seven Years in Tibet, Simons presents a nuanced portrait of a man who, as he writes, “spent the second part of his life concealing the dark truth of the first.