Since its publication in 1992, 『Ancient Future』 has been translated into over 50 languages ​​and has been loved by readers around the world. It is a book that makes you think about society and the entire planet through the people of Ladakh, who live with values ​​that are very different from those of the Western world.


It consists of three parts. Part 1, Tradition, is about the author, a linguist, who visited a Ladakhi village in 1975 to study the Ladakhi dialect, and describes the peaceful and wise life of the people living there.
Part 2, Regarding Changes, depicts the process by which Leh, the capital of Ladakh's traditional culture, which was opened in 1975 under the Indian government's open-door policy, was completely destroyed by Western culture and values ​​brought in by foreign tourists.

Part 3, Towards the Future, describes the specific activities of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC), an international private organization established by Helena Hodge to restore Ladakh society, and the introduction and status of the Ladakh Project.
The author concludes by arguing that many people sympathize with the negative effects of development based on Western consumption and that they should establish and develop new values ​​suited to their own culture.
This book is not just a bestseller, but a valuable report on contemporary anthropology and sociology, making us reexamine a facet of the society we live in by comparing it to the lives of Ladakhi villagers.