Reddit reviews Zen Buddhism: A History (Japan) (Treasures of the World's Religions) (Volume 2)
We found 2 Reddit comments about Zen Buddhism: A History (Japan) (Treasures of the World's Religions) (Volume 2). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
Hakuin's autobiography would be a great place to start.
Heinrich Dumoulin's 2-volume "Zen Buddhism: A History" (Vol 1, Vol 2) is a classic, albeit somewhat dated. It has extended descriptions of the lives of some of the more notable teachers.
Andy Ferguson's "Zen's Chinese Heritage" is a very readable translation of the Lamp Records, providing some useful historical flavor. Although, the Lamp Records are where many of the major koan collections are drawn from, so if you're not into koans, ymmv.
I'll see if I can think of any others.
There's a chapter of his writing with introductory biography in The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader.
That book's bibliography points to three sources:
The Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen
Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan
Zen Buddhism: A History (Japan)