This book is honestly one of the best overviews of Buddhist teachings I have come across. It covers all the major schools of Buddhism and their basic ideas as well as the overall history of Buddhism. In addition, Peter Harvey is much more aware of the nuances of Buddhist concepts as well as misconceptions about Buddhism that are common among even well-educated writers (such as about Nirvana, Anatta, Emptiness, the role of Deities, expectations for lay followers, etc.). Peter Harvey is also aware - via sources such as Melford Spiro - that Buddhism does not expect most followers to aim for Nirvana (which is a very difficult goal that requires renunciation of life) but rather for good rebirths as more fortunate humans or in the heavenly realms.
Also, Buddhism can easily combine with other religions in Asia (such as Daoism, Shinto, certain forms of Hinduism, Burmese & Thai folk religion, etc.) because Buddhism acknowledges the existence of deities as real spiritual beings - even if not as absolute beings - and does not oppose praying to deities for assistance alongside regular Buddhist practice. Awareness of all these nuances makes Peter Harvey's book a valuable introduction to Buddhism, as opposed to so many other academic books on the subject which are written by very biased or less educated scholars/professors. The only issue I have with this book is that many topics, especially in regards to Buddhist practices, are covered only very briefly and require further study to really understand. That being said, this was probably meant to be simply a concise introduction.
As a side note, I want to mention that there were a few statements here and there that I thought were inaccurate. For example, in a section on Japanese religious beliefs Harvey made the classic mistake of assuming that Japanese people do not consider religious belief important but consider ritual participation important. This misconception comes from some statistical studies that show about only a third of Japanese profess to follow a religion but the majority still participate in religious activities. However, Japanese do not have an equivalent term for the English word "religion" and instead use a term that implies adherence to a specific "sect doctrine", which they say no to (most Japanese have mixed religious beliefs instead). One can also see from sources such as the Nanzan Institute that the majority of Japanese actually believe in the existence of spiritual/supernatural beings (in direction contradiction to Harvey's statement). This same Western misconception can occur when observing certain Chinese societies as well.
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Top reviews from other countries
Louise da Rocha Vasconcellos Crivelenti
Good for academia
Reviewed in Brazil on April 25, 2015
