The Buddhist World

"In The Buddhist World, John Powers has brought together many of the world's best Buddhism scholars to create a volume that approaches the tradition from several key angles: historical, geographical, religious, philosophical, social, and biographical….The book as a whole is a landmark contribution, sure to be a source of information for general readers and an important research tool for scholars for many years to come."

Roger R. Jackson, Carleton College, USA

"The Buddhist World is a remarkable introduction to Buddhism by some of the world's leading scholars. The work is breathtaking in scope, covering the entire Buddhist world in its full geographical and historical breadth. Thematic and biographical chapters offer added depth into key issues and important figures. Introducing readers to the latest, cutting-edge scholarship in accessible, jargon-free prose, this is a fabulous resource for beginning and advanced students of Buddhism alike."

José Cabezón, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

"This volume covers an array of key facets of Buddhism(s), and does so with a good balance between topics and thinkers/schools. It also features essays about different Buddhist regions, including the United States."

Christopher Ives, Stonehill College, USA

"In The Buddhist World, John Powers has brought together many of the world's best Buddhism scholars to create a volume that approaches the tradition from several key angles: historical, geographical, religious, philosophical, social, and biographical….The book as a whole is a landmark contribution, sure to be a source of information for general readers and an important research tool for scholars for many years to come."

Roger R. Jackson, Carleton College, USA

"The Buddhist World is a remarkable introduction to Buddhism by some of the world's leading scholars. The work is breathtaking in scope, covering the entire Buddhist world in its full geographical and historical breadth. Thematic and biographical chapters offer added depth into key issues and important figures. Introducing readers to the latest, cutting-edge scholarship in accessible, jargon-free prose, this is a fabulous resource for beginning and advanced students of Buddhism alike."

José Cabezón, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

"This volume covers an array of key facets of Buddhism(s), and does so with a good balance between topics and thinkers/schools. It also features essays about different Buddhist regions, including the United States."

Christopher Ives, Stonehill College, USA

Combining breadth and depth, this wonderful tome discusses Buddhism on both micro and macro levels. The essays in the first three sections cover history and politics, religion and philosophy, and sociology; the last section is devoted to biographies. Rather than defining a geographic location, the collection looks at the entire Buddhist world, from its roots in India to its spread to the West. Powers (Asian studies, Australian National Univ.) gathered the foremost scholars in each area of Buddhist studies, and the result is a book that could readily serve as a primary textbook for an undergraduate survey course; individual essays could very well serve more experienced scholars and researchers. Overall, this volume serves a broad readership, and it does so incredibly well.

N. A. Weiss, Naropa University, October 2016 issue of CHOICE