This book was simultaneously one of the more interesting and the most difficult book to understand. And that's fitting.

After returning from my honeymoon in Indochina, where we visited more Buddhist temples than I can count, I wanted to learn more about Buddhism. Asking a friend's Buddhist brother, I was recommended this book. It turned out to be the perfect book for my purposes. The author is an American Buddhist and the book is written pretty much precisely for people like me: western More...

Professor at Duke.
This is a good in-between being a simple introduction to inspire new meditators and a scholastic intro. Still, it tells you about the varieties of Buddhism -- maybe something the beginner does not want to hear.

Oh well.
That is why it is hard to recommend a book on Buddhism.