A warm and stimulating book, this text describes the India into which the Buddha was born, recounts what is known of his life and the development of his teachings, and then follows the course of Buddhism through succeeding centuries in India and Sri Lanka. Far from being a recluse concerned only with an inner mystical experience, the Buddha always involved himself closely in the social and political world of his time. If he preached detachment from many of the things by which ordinary men are tied, he did so as a means of enriching life rather than escaping it. These examinations and more make this a book to reveal the social-revolutionary potential of Buddhism.