Buddhism A journey through history

Lopez's latest book on Buddhism is a genuine achievement--a truly comprehensive, accessible, single-volume history of Buddhism, which traces the tradition from its origins to its present-day iterations around the world. The book is wide-ranging in both the chronology and the breadth of topics covered, from religious practice to art, law, morality, politics, and other cultural artifacts and institutions. This broad scope makes the text fertile for interdisciplinary research. One feature that stands out is how Lopez (Univ. of Michigan) uses narrative detail to elucidate the evolution of Buddhism across time, culture, and place. This helps to situate the enormous amount of detail in an engaging format, making it an excellent option for undergraduates new to Buddhism while still maintaining the subtle nuance needed for graduate students and researchers. An example of such nuance can be found in Lopez's discussion of the usual terms for the three main surviving Buddhist traditions: Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna. Lopez clarifies the limitations of using Theravāda to refer to the Buddhism that predates Mahāyāna, since the former term was coined by Westerners in the 20th century. Given further details, Lopez instead uses the term "Nikāya Buddhism." Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. --George Wrisley, University of North Georgia

A Buddhist history tracing the line between academic rigor and inclusivity with a minimum of strain. Lopez is an established figure of Buddhist academia both as a longtime professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies at the University of Michigan and with his many books that bring the study of Buddhism into the public eye. As he acknowledges at the outset of his most recent work, an investigation of Buddhism in its transcontinental journey over 2.5-plus millennia is a problem of scale. Tomes might be dedicated to any one century or region of influence. For the reader brave enough to take on such a global religion, Lopez has arranged 30 stand-alone essays in which one can trace a path there and back in different parcels of space and time. Rather than chronologically or regionally, he organizes these alphabetically, addressing apocalypse, art, canon, council, disappearance, encounter, food, identity, immortality, incarnation, innovation, law, narrative, nation, ordination, orthodoxy, persecution, philosophy, pilgrimage, rule, schism, science, self, sex, society, war, women, wrath, and writing, with an opening essay on history pointing to his own endeavor. An extended introduction expands on a primer in Buddhism for anyone coming up to speed with the terms at play. Lopez also attempts to cover in a brief but meaningful way countries where Buddhism can be found over time. Even while brief, these explanations accumulate, suggesting the expansive if interconnected global scape Lopez is outlining. But even for these far-flung reaches of theoretical and academic inquiry, Lopez does tend to start and conclude each essay in territory that will be familiar to the reader, rooting his essays in tropes and experiences of the contemporary anglophone world. Aiming at a global view of Buddhism, Lopez keeps the reader circling back to the enormity of the scope, such that with one wary eye on the horizon, the other analyzes whatever academic soil in which Lopez is digging. Puzzle pieces of a global Buddhist scape to be assembled, scrambled, and reassembled. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.