Most books on Buddhism I pick up are the same--they all seem to be written by New Age Americans who talk about the present moment. That's fine and everything, but I'm more interested in the history of Buddhism and how it evolved--also, its relationship with politics and society. Basically something on par with a history of Christianity.
Thank you!
I can’t say my recommendations will be the best, since I haven’t read all books on the history of Buddhism, but these are two written by well regarded authors in their field:
Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction by Damien Keown is a very good starting point. Keown is a bioethicist and is part of the History dept. at the University of London. (My copy of this one seems to have wandered off, but I enjoyed it very much.)
A Concise History of Buddhism by Andrew Skilton is a bit more in depth. Dr Skilton is a senior research fellow of Buddhist Studies at Kings College London.
Here is a list I put together a while ago.