A Concise History of Buddhism [Paperback]

Andrew Skilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1995

An introduction to the history of Buddhism which explains the development of the religion's basic concepts over 2500 years, and describes Buddhism's diverse manifestations in its homeland, India, and its spread across Asia, from Mongolia to Sri Lanka, and from Japan to the Middle East.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Windhorse Pubns (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0904766667
• ISBN-13: 978-0904766660
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,415,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know Where You Came From?, August 7, 2002

By 

James S. Taylor (Scarborough, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Concise History of Buddhism (Paperback)

In the West, I find many Buddhists are primarilly interested in the pragmatic and practical aspects of the faith, so there doesn't tend to be a lot of interest in what gets typically written off as dry, irrelevant history. The ahistorical bent of certain aspects of Buddhist thought lends its weight to this. Knowing what has already happened, however, can be a good pointer for figuring out where you are, and an understanding of the history and development of Buddhism is a great help in this respect. Since most people don't have the interest, time, or patience to wade through a major work on the subject, Skilton's book will fill their need. A mere couple hundred pages in length, he surveys events in brief eight to twelve page chapters that are easy to read without being simplistic. One gains insight into the great sweep of Buddhism across Asia from Japan in the East right over to Persia in the West. There is also a topically organized, extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources to further any interest the main text has raised.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very useful short history, January 30, 2006

By 

M. LATORRA "Gozen" (Las Cruces, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Concise History of Buddhism (Hardcover)

Since its founding around 25 centuries ago, Buddhism has spread widely and diversified into numerous schools of thought and practice. Summarizing this long history and describing succinctly the many schools of Buddhism is not easy. Yet Andrew Skilton has accomplished this feat with apparent ease. And making something look easy is the hardest task any scholar can face.

I was astonished to see that one reviewer has claimed that this book is "Mahayana propaganda" based on a single reference. As I read it, I found Skilton's work to be very even-handed in discussing Mahayana and Theravada, without any proseletyzing or obvious mispresentation regarding either of these major schools of Buddhism. Skilton is disapassionate and fairminded, summing up history and doctrines with economy and precision. If there are errors in the book, I believe that they are minor and certainly unintentional.

I recommend this book highly.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Van Horn is quite mistaken, May 1, 2007

By 

A reader (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Concise History of Buddhism (Paperback)

In Mr. Van Horn's reader review, he uses a "quote" which is nowhere to be found in the book. This is what Skilton actually says (pgs 67-68) about the brahma-viharas in the Theravadin tradition:

"The Theravadin School developed a rather austere orthodoxy, epitomized in the works of the 5th century scholastic Buddhagohosa, especially in his Visuddhi-magga, which on a theoretical level tends to exclude doctrines and practices incompatible with its preferred preoccupations. An example of this exclusion might be the meditational practices called the brahma-viharas, which in its Abhidamma and commentarial literature are relegated to an ancillary function only, whereas its own canon records instances which substantially refute this role. Canonical passages frequently contain editorial additions "demoting" the brahma-viharas but, where parallel texts survive from the Mahasanghika canon, it is interesting to note that the latter did not feel any need to qualify such practices in that way."

As you can see, Mr. Van Horn's characterization of this point is entirely incorrect, as is his assessment of the book on the whole. One wishes he would have asked himself why Skilton, a longtime Theravadin practitioner himself, would want to write a piece of "Mahayanist propaganda."

In fact, Skilton's book is a commendably thorough, superbly written, extensively footnoted overview of the subject, with a firm grasp of the issues at hand. I could not recommend it more highly.