The Buddha: Biography of a Myth

From one of the world’s leading Buddhist scholars, a deeply researched and unprecedented portrait of the Buddha

Like Jesus and Muhammad, the Buddha is one of the most significant figures in history. But is he a historical figure? In this revelatory book, Donald S. Lopez Jr. explores this question and considers what is at stake in the answer. Using stories of the Buddha’s life—drawn from the earliest biographies, the work of other scholars, and his own research—Lopez traces a single narrati...