François Villon’s poetic genius remains undisputed, and to this day he is considered one of the most important poets of medieval times. He has been translated into all major languages with varying success, and the critic György Bálint describes his tone as ‘raw’ and his words as ‘compact, hard and folksy in a basic and robust way’, thus not easy to translate.

György Faludy, one of several Hungarian translators, threw all conventions to the wind, and changed Villon’s tone to what can only be described as ‘talkative, smooth, emotional and piquant.” Yet Faludy maintained that the spirit of Villon and his age have been retained. Although many English translations of Villon have been published, Faludy’s unique version in English is now made available in the present translation by Iván Kovács, who is also known for having translated Attila József’s Suburban Night and other Poems.

It is largely thanks to such people as Alexandra David-Neel, W. Y. Evans-Wentz, and Lama Govinda that Tibet had been made known to people in the West. it is their writings, lectures as well as adopted lifestyles, as in the case of David-Neel and Lama Govinda, that Tibet became intelligible, and they are the heroes and spokespersons who make known the wonders and mysteries in Pioneers of Tibet.

This book is about those passionate souls who would leave no stone unturned to get at the heart of what Tibet is about, and this book is aimed at paying tribute to them.