One could hardly imagine a richer and more exciting life than that of Giuseppe Tucci (1894--1984), a scholar who may rightly be considered one of the fathers of modern Oriental Studies and the central protagonist of Fascist cultural policy in Asia. From his first expeditions from the Himalayas to the Ganges, to his encounters with leaders such as Gandhi, Tagore, the Dalai Lama, Subhas Chandra Bose, to his role as Mussolini's spokesman in India and Japan-Tucci's is a human adventure tied inextricably to the history of modern Italy, which he himself helped to forge. An adventure retraced in the pages of this book that reads like an adventure novel.