My life at the court of the Dalai Lama); 1954 in English) is an autobiographical travel book written by Austrian mountaineer and Nazi SS sergeant Heinrich Harrer based on his real life experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War and the interim period before the Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army began the Battle of Chamdo in 1950 when the Chinese attempted to reestablish control over Tibet.

[citation needed] It has been said that the book "provided the world with a final glimpse of life in an independent Tibetan state prior to the Chinese invasion.

[3] The book has been criticized by Marxist political scientist Michael Parenti for its whitewashing portrayal of Tibet before the involvement of the Chinese Communist Party.

Parenti rebukes Harrer's sanitized portrayal of Tibet and instead describes it as a feudal society consisting of slavery, lifelong servitude, and serfdom before being liberated by the PLA.

[5] At the beginning of the Flamingo edition of the book, a message from the 14th Dalai Lama praises the work: "Harrer has always been such a friend to Tibet.