The History of Indian Buddhism is undoubtedly Lamotte´s most brilliant
contribution to the field of Buddhist exegesis. The work contains a vivid,
vigorous and fully-detailed description of early Buddhism and its teachings,
the material organization of the Community, the formation and further
developments of Buddhist writings, the conciliar traditions, the evolution of
Buddhist sculpture and architecture, the origins of the sects, the Buddhist
dialects and the constitution of the legends, and sets them in the historical
background in which buddhist doctrines originated and expanded in India and in
neighbouring countries. Using material evidence provided by Indian epigraphy
and archaeological remains on the one hand, and taking into account information
supplied by Western (Latin and Greek) and Far Eastern (Tibetan and Chinese)
sources on the other, Lamotte has succeeded in producing a lucid and basic book
that is unanimously considered as a classic of contemporary Buddhist studies.
After thirty years, the work has retained all its value, but, in order to meet
the requirements of recent Buddhist scholarship, the book has been supplemented
with an additional bibliography, an index of technical terms and revised
geographical maps.
