By: Paul David Numrich, Raymond B. Williams
and Gurinder Singh Mann

Hardback, 180 pages, 110 duo-tint images
Oxford University Press, U.S.A.
ISBN: ISBN: 0-19-512442-1

Buddism, Hinduism and Sikhism constitute three of the world?s most powerful and intriguing religions. And the presence of Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs in the United States since the middle and late 19th Century- and their dramatically increasing numbers since the 1960s reveals the breadth of America?s long-standing religious pluralism. The people of these faiths have faced and surmounted legal and social discrimination, and all three religions have survived and prospered in America among both Asian Immigrants and their descendants and growing numbers of non-Asian converts. This book reveals the fascinating historical background of these vital religious traditions and outlines their encounter with America in the 19th and 20th centuries. Paul Numrich describes American intellectual?s fascination with Buddhism beginning in the 1840s and traces discrimination against Buddhists. Raymond Williams potrays Swami Vivekanand?s impact at the 1893 Chicago World?s Fair. Prof. Gurinder Singh Mann depicts how Sikh Gurdwaras or places of worship, have sustained core religious practices while accommodating American customs at the periphery. This book is part of a unique 17-volume series thar explores the evolution, character and dynamics of religion in American life from 1500 to the end of the 20th Century.