Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide
To many, Buddhism is still something of a mystery, a great world faith involving much ritual, symbolism and sacred architecture yet somehow remote from daily living. This major illustrated work treads that difficult path between academia and accessibility and on the whole succeeds (not least by its exquisite paintings) in explaining the complexities of the key teachings and principles, including how they relate to ethics, to politics, even to vegetarianism and to sex. A heavyweight volume in a specialist area yet one with a long shelf life as an all-encompassing doorway for westerners into modern Buddhism and all aspects of its history.