This English translation of the manuscript autobiographies of four Tibetan lamas of the Dolpo region, three of whom were born in the 16th century and one in the 17th, offers the reader important insight into medieval Tibetan religious life. The manuscript records of these lives were discovered by the author/translator, an eminent scholar of Tibetan religion and culture, in the library of a monastery in Dolpo in 1961. Dr. Snellgrove remained in Dolpo to work with an erudite local monk on the preparatory work of the translation, thereafter completing the translation on his return to England.

Four Lamas of Dolpo provides a unique inside account of Tibetan religion and culture, as it has survived and has been practiced in an enclosed Tibetan community, practically unchanged for the past thousand years.