There are many accounts of the Buddha''s life that mix legend and history. This compelling new biography discriminates between fact and fiction to reveal Gautama, the remarkable human being behind the legends, and shed new light on his teachings.

Plunging us into the noise, smells and jostling streets of Gautama''s world, Vishvapani Blomfield brings the Buddha to life as a passionate and determined individual — a strikingly modern figure who rejected contemporary beliefs and found his own answers by mastering his mind.

Even after he gained Enlightenment and became the Buddha (''the Awakened One'') Gautama experienced struggles as well as triumphs as he trod India''s dusty paths. Vishvapani shows how he sought to establish a community of practitioners amid his society''s divided culture and perilous politics and how the ideas that became the Buddhist teachings grew from Gautama''s efforts to address the needs and beliefs of his listeners.

Drawing on years of meticulous research into original sources, Gautama Buddha takes us within touching distance of one of history''s greatest figures.