In this extract the translator discusses the thorny problem of history, truth and fiction and asks what 'truth' can mean when history is made up of the accumulated fictions of those who record it.

The British Spy who published the Buddhist Jataka Tales for English Readers who died fighting fascism and of whom you've probably never heard.

The Zen stories of 'awakening' links this inner transformation with an outer event. What is the significance of this link for how we view our own consciousness and its relation to the physical world?