Representing the culmination of Dr. Kalupahana's thirty years of scholarly research and reflection, A History of Buddhism provides a complete, detailed analysis of both early and later Buddhism.

Part 1 is devoted to early Buddhism, opening with a thorough examination of pre-Buddhist thought and its absolutist character, followed by a biographical sketch of Siddartha, the historical Buddha. Each of the following nine chapters examines a major theme in Buddhist discourse: knowledge and understanding, experience and theory, language and communication, freedom and happiness, human personality, human suffering, the object, the moral life, and popular religious thought.

Part 2 examines later Buddhism by mapping its continuities with and divergences from early Buddhist doctrine. Dr. Kalupahana illustrates the movement of some schools toward substantialism and absolutism while other schools made a persistent attempt to retain the original teachings of the Buddha.
History of Buddhist Philosophy, David Kalupahana, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Hardcover, 304 pages, $15.00

David J. Kalupahana, Ph.D., is one of the most famous writers of Buddhism in the English language. Dr. Kalupahana has written nine books, more than thirty articles and contributed thirty-five minor articles and entries in the Encyclopedia of Buddhism.