Siddhartha Guatama, the son of a Nepalese raja, was said to have lived a life of ease until the age of 30, when he gave himself over to years of contemplation, denying himself the riches he had once enjoyed, and finally reached a state of enlightenment while sitting beneath a tree. From that point on he was known as Buddha, the Awakened, and became a wandering teacher, sharing his beliefs with others. In The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Life of Buddha, Victoria Urubshurow, an expert in religious biography, takes us back to the China, Greece, and the Middle East of Buddha's birth as well as his native India, circa 650-350 B.C.E. Guatama wasn't the first Buddha, but he certainly became the most significant one.