Edmund Candler was the correspondent of the Daily Mail who accompanied the British expeditionary forces that invaded Tibet in 1903. He provides an eyewitness account of Great Britain's first and last military incursion into the forbidden land on the roof of the world.

The British expedition to Tibet in 1903 and 1904, led by Sir Francis Younghusband was actually an armed invasion of Tibet by British and Indian forces, seeking to prevent the Russian Empire from interfering in Tibetan affairs and thus gaining a foothold in one of the buffer states surrounding British India, under similar reasoning which had led British forces into Afghanistan twenty years before. Whilst British forces were remarkably successful in achieving their aims militarily, politically the invasion was very unpopular back in Britain, where it was virtually disowned post-war. The effects on Tibet, despite higher casualties and some economic disruption were also not significant, and any changes were not long retained, as in 1910 the Chinese army re-entered Tibet and established their dominance over the region.

Amongst the units which were part of the 3,000 strong force were elements of the 23rd and 32nd Sikh Pioneers, 8th Gurkhas, 40th Pathans, 19th Punjab Infantry and the Royal Fusiliers, as well as mountain artillery, engineers, Maxim Gun detachments from four regiments and thousands of porters recruited from Nepal and Sikkim.

The expedition to Lhasa was full of interest, not only on account of the political issues involved and the physical difficulties overcome, but owing to the many dramatic incidents which attended the Mission's progress. Candler's account describes the actions of the superior British invasion forces, during the expedition, while confronting an ill-equipped and fanatical Tibetan militia