Zürcher (East Asian history emeritus, Leiden U., the Netherlands) describes the formation of gentry Buddhism and the amalgamation of Buddhism with the main trends of medieval thought, more from the perspective of Chinese history than the history of Buddhism. When it was originally published in 1959, it was the first attempt in a Western language to describe the rise of Buddhism in China. A 1972 second edition included printed Chinese characters, but what is now known to have been a transitional printing technology did not allow much other revision. That second edition is reprinted here as the classic articulation of the foundation of what has now become a thriving academic discipline. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)