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 narrative from the Buddha's birth to his enlightenment to his passage into nirvana.

Unlike those who transformed the Buddha into a rationalist philosopher, Lopez seeks to "remythologize" the Buddha, restoring the rainbow that encircled the Buddha for centuries, radiating his teachings around the world. Complementing traditional Buddhist sources with insights from Gustave Flaubert, Oscar Wilde, George Eliot, and others, Lopez produces a rich, accessible, and unprecedented portrait of one of the world's most important religious figures.