A short history of Buddhism

By Edward Conze

Book Overview

In this authoritative guide, one of the world's most distinguished scholars of Buddhism provides a compact summary of the tradition's development, from the time of the Buddha to the 20th century exile... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0042941091
• ISBN13: 9780042941097
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Allen and Unwin
• Length: 135 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Best Book for Understanding Buddhism in a Hurry

Conze has not been dethroned as foremost authority on the history of Buddhism, and this book is a good starting point for any study in Buddhism, Buddhist art, or general Asian Studies.This readable, meaty, short book will clue you in on who Gautama was, but concentrate mainly on how his teachings have spawned several types of Buddhism, mainly the three catagories of Tantric, Mahayana, and Theravada Buddhism. But many small schisms are mentioned, making it a rather complete history of the religion for such a small book. Geographical and scholarly paths are generally traced, showing a good overview of this religion's spread. It's well organized and a good read.My only dislike is that not enough text is dedicated to an exploration of the life of Gautama (Conze gives about 2 pages only), including his many attempts at enlightenment and the final long confrontation of all his past lives. Possibly this omission is made so as not to bring in too much religious doctrine (this is, after all, a history OF the religion), but I found the lack of coverage annoying and puzzling.