Rating: 
Summary: There is no Absolute Self or Soul
Review: I'm not going to go into a long argument here as to exactly all the reasons why she is wrong, but if you are new to Buddhism, please take with a grain-of-salt the comments made by the reviewer Denise K Anderson. A few quotes considered out of context and without reference to the HUGE body of Buddhist literature that says contrary, does not prove her points. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I am afraid that seeing such comments might steer a newcomer to Buddhism wrong. The central message of Buddhism is that ALL things are empty and dependently arising, and until you understand that you will make no real progress in it. Buddhism doesn't teach nihilism, that we are non-existent, but neither does it teach that there is an absolute, unchanging Self that simply inhabits one body after another on its way to Nirvana. This person was obviously brought up in a Western household, likely Christian, and she has tailored her Buddhist beliefs to conform with previous ideas she covets. In fact, I'm sure that the Dalai Lama himself would tell you that this clinging to Self is for most people the single biggest obstacle to spiritual enlightenment, and the main source of all the woes humanity creates for itself.But don't believe either one of us just because we said so! Buddhism above all stresses the importance of personal experience, so find out for yourself. I think you will find that 99% of the books you'll find here on Buddhism will agree much more closely with Rahula's interpretation than the above mentioned reviewer.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive, succinct introduction to Buddhism
Review: I've been studying the Dhamma for over a quarter century, and have been fortunate in having a number of wonderful teachers. In my opinion, Rahula's book is the best introduction available. The book is also quite useful as it is the ultimate "briefer course" on the subject. Extremely well-ordered and organized, the book presents all the basic concepts and tenents of Buddhism, in concise and easily accessible explanations. Noteworthy is Rahula's blessed blend of economy and comprehensiveness. In less than 150 pages, an average reader can be well-versed in this magnificent teaching as it was originally disemminated. The entire book can be read in a couple of sittings (great for students under pressure, reads like higher order cliff notes!). Rahula, a Theravadan Monk, begins his discussion by relating the life of the Buddha (the dhamma) and continues with an exposition of "The Buddhist Attitude of Mind". Here he discusses with brevity and precision the purpose and essence of the Buddha's thought and enlightenment. In the following four chapters he discusses the details of that enlightenment, "The Four Noble Truths", which is simultaneuosly a map of "The Middle Way", the path the Buddha has prescribed to reach freedom (nibbana, which is Pali for the Sanskrit, nirvana). The next chapter deals with the most difficult concept for Western students, Anatta (the idea of 'no-soul'). In this chapter, there is also a clear and understandable discussion of 'paticcasamupada' which is often called in older English translations 'dependent-arising' or 'co-dependent arising'. This idea is the Buddha's theory of causation and is the central philosophical concept in Buddhism. Rahula translates it as 'conditioned genesis', but much more to the point is the contemporary Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh's translation of the idea as 'Interbeing'. However, in brevity, focus, and comprehensiveness, Rahula's explanation is most helpful. Following are chapters on meditation, mindfulness, and the potential helpfulness of Buddha's teaching for the contemporary world.
Then, we get forty pages of selections from the most essential Buddhist texts, including Buddha's first talk after attaining enlightenment, the wonderful Dhammapada, the Metta-sutta, and much else. The book includes a comprehensive and informative glossary of Pali (the scriptural language of Buddhism in contrast to Sanskrit which is Vedic/Hindu)words, excellent Bibliography, and complete Index.
The Theravadan teaching is the original teaching of Buddhism as close as the world's scholars and devotees can seem to get to how Gotama Buddha taught it. You simply cannot do better that this book for quickly attaining a foundational knowledge of Buddhism.
Rating: 
Summary: Not "what the Buddha taught", but "What Theravada teaches"
Review: Having read this book through, and being a translator of Pali (the language of the oldest texts of Buddhism), one can only conclude that the Author, now dead, did not read Buddhism's teachings, but rather the secular materials of his personal school, the Theravada and its Abhidhamma.
Mr. Rahulas claim, like that of Mr/Mrs. "Trinity" below is that, without evidences or citations from scripture, that Buddhism denied negated the Soul (attan/atman). This is however a baseless claim which cannot be substantiated in Sutra. In fact anatta is an adjective, not a noun. Buddhism says specifically: SN 3.196 "What does anatta mean Lord (Buddha)?...It means that form is non-self (anatta), feelings are non-self (anatta), and the other 3 aggregates.".
I'm afraid that anyone reading this book will confuse Mr. Rahula's personal views as expressed by and thru his school (Hinayana/Abhidhammism) and superimpose that belief system in his book upon Buddhism's doctrine. In fact, Buddhism says:The Soul is Charioteer"[Jataka-2-1341], "I leave you now, having made my Soul the refuge (saranamatta) DN 2.120 and "The Self (atman) as refuge, with nary another as refuge" DN 2.100.
I dare say that the claim by Rahula in his book that "anatta rejects the belief in a permanent unchanging Soul", is not scripturally verifiable in the least. Anatta is an adjective which refers to 22 things being devoid of Atman, "no-Soul" is specifically the Pali term: NATTHATTA' (literally "there is not/no[nattha]+atta'[Soul]), not anatta.
The claim below to the effect that: "The central message of Buddhism is that ALL things are empty and dependently arising", is correct, the all (sabbe) is phenomena (sankhara), and are devoid of (sunna) the Atman and are dependently arisen (paticcasamuppada), however both Buddhism and the Upanishads say the identically same thing, to conclude that ABCDEF is not X (atman/soul), therefore X does not exist, (the conclusion of Rahula and a reviewer below) is a fallacy of composition.
To parrot a reviewer below who said: "But don't believe either one of us just because we said so!" is true, which is why I have provided the scriptural evidences from Buddhist Sutta proving Rahula's "no-soul = Buddhist philosophy" claim to be groundless. I do not see the reviewer below refuting or upholding Rahula's claims by quoting Buddhism's sutras, hence it is ipso facto a "baseless claim composed entirely of conjecture". Mr. Rahula's book should correctly be titled "The secular opinions by and of Theravadins", it is incorrect and misleading to title this book "what the Buddha taught", since empirically the book contradicts Buddhism's main tenant to wit: "Dwell with the Soul as your Light, with the Soul as your refuge, with none other as refuge." [SN 5.154, DN 2.100, SN 3.42, DN 3.58, SN 5.163].
Rating:
Summary: Still the best introductory book on Buddhism
Review: A clear and concise introduction to the central teachings of Buddhism--the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, "no-soul," meditation--by a Buddhist monk and scholar. Includes translations of selected Buddhist texts and a glossary of Buddhist vocabulary. When I first read "What the Buddha Taught" in college, it helped spark my interest in Buddhist practice, and one bit in particular has fundamentally shaped my approach to life and religion (Christianity as well as Buddhism): the story of the man wounded by a poisoned arrow, a parable illustrating the Buddha's utter noninterest in metaphysical speculation and his pragmatic and compassionate focus on liberation from suffering. (A good complement or follow-up to this book would be "Radiant Mind," a collection of essential Buddhist teachings from classical sources, with commentaries excerpted from the writings of contemporary Buddhist teachers. If you're looking for a "how to" book on meditation, I'd recommend "The Three Pillars of Zen.")
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING introductory text on Buddhism!
Review: The Ven. Dr. Walpola Sri Rahula has produced one of the best texts I have ever read on Buddhism! There are many out there that incorrectly talk about Buddhism and they also have many incorrect interpretations of the Buddha. Venerable Rahula does an outstanding job in his correct translations/interpetations of important teachings of Siddhattha. The reader is introduced to key Buddhist teachings such as: -The Buddhist attitude of Mind -The Four Noble Truths (each one having it's own chapter!) And the eightfold path as well as the five aggregates. -The doctrine of No-Soul: Anatta. This is one of the most important ones and the author talks about how 'self' is incorrectly being introduced by some authors, etc. -Meditation: Everything from a few 'basic' meditation techniques to such things as why meditate... -What the Buddha Taught and the World Today: This great section shows how to apply the Buddhas teachings into every day life. There is even the 10 duties of a ruler (Government) which would be great if some politicians read! And finally there is 'selected texts' which provide even more insight...it was a refreshing thing to read after the chapters and after reading the book it made sense when reading these selected texts! There is even a Glossary to help you understand words used in Buddhism. In fact throughout the book you are introduced to the correct sayings and words... All in all you should get this book even if you are already 'into' Buddhism.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best introductory book on Buddhism
Review: A clear and concise introduction to the central teachings of Buddhism--the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, "no-soul," meditation--by a Buddhist monk and scholar. Includes translations of selected Buddhist texts and a glossary of Buddhist vocabulary. When I first read "What the Buddha Taught" in college, it helped spark my interest in Buddhist practice, and one bit in particular has fundamentally shaped my approach to life and religion (Christianity as well as Buddhism): the story of the man wounded by a poisoned arrow, a parable illustrating the Buddha's utter noninterest in metaphysical speculation and his pragmatic and compassionate focus on liberation from suffering. (A good complement or follow-up to this book would be "Radiant Mind," a collection of essential Buddhist teachings from classical sources, with commentaries excerpted from the writings of contemporary Buddhist teachers. If you're looking for a "how to" book on meditation, I'd recommend "The Three Pillars of Zen.")
Rating:
Summary: A competent and brief introduction
Review: It's difficult to think of a better brief introductory text to classical or Theravada Buddhism. The author gives a short introduction and then discusses the Four Noble Truths, the value of meditation, and some ideas on the modern relevance of Buddhism. The writing style is reasonably good, and the index and glossary are excellent if a bit out of date (one excellent source of modern text translations is accesstoinsight.org). This book can be recommended for beginners and to experienced meditators or Buddhists who would like a good "memory refresher."
One caveat: Mr Rahula seems to argue that the Buddha's views were atheistic. In my opinion, given the Buddha's admonition to investigate-for-yourself, his non-dogmatic statement that he had simply not seen a transcendent deity (rather than saying he knew there was no such deity), and his acceptance of some revelation and authority in addition to his reliance on analysis, I would argue the Buddha's views were probably agnostic rather than atheistic.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Place to Start
Review: This book is about the 4-5 book I have read on the general topic of "Buddhism". I must say it is very through, and contains all the fundamentals, with great analogies and metaphors for complex ideas. I highly recommend this book, and would ask you to ignore the other reviews which complain the ideas in the book are false. This is a great purchase.
Rating:
Summary: A great Introduction
Review: I am a practitioner of the Theravada tradition. Of all the books I've read on the subject, I still find this the best introductory book. Buddha advocated practitioners not to merely believe in any prescribed doctrine, as word is a poor medium for explaining the ultimate truth. This is why certain metaphysical subjects are not discussesd. Intellectual discourse and literary research into the Pali Canons will NOT lead to enlightenment. The practitioner must learn to "see" reality the way it is. It must be "practised". Throughout the history of Buhhdism, differences of opinion did arise. The most important one is the Mahayana school's assertion on bodhisattvas vs arahantship. Or the soul vs no soul dispute, mainly with another religion in India: Hinduism. These disputes will forever remain unresolved. When the reader attain certain Jhana, and calm the mind, and "able to see reality as it is", the answer will become apparaent. Readers should keep in mind that terms like no-self, no-soul, emptiness, ... are difficult to pin down, as these are mere concepts. And concepts cannot be definitively pinned down by words, or else it will become a doctrine. Thus intellectual discourse on these wording will never lead to any resolution. As an introduction to Buddhism, one need not worry too much about soul vs no-soul. As the word "soul" in itself is difficult to pin down. If one must focus on words, why not first try to explain the word "life". Of course, it will lead to nowhere.
Rating: 
Summary: This book makes no sense and isnt Buddhism
Review: This book makes no sense whatsoever to the degree that Walpola Rahula claims that Buddhism denied the Soul in its teachings. Frankly, his book displays no direct quotes from the teachings as to the Soul being denied outright, nor does he attempt to make any convincing argument to that effect. Having a large library of materials on Buddhism, I know for fact that such world-renowned Buddhologists and Pali translators do posit the Self, the Soul within Buddhism, being:
Radhakrishnan, F.L. Woodward, Kanai Lal Hazra, CAF Rhys Davids, Dr. Joaquin Perez-Ramon, Govind Pande Chande, I.B. Horner, E.M. Hare, George Grimm, Harsh Narain, Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy, Dr. Hajjime Nakamura, Julius Evola, Kosho Yamamoto (and so on).
Many of these authors are not only experts in their respective field, but also are Sanskrit and Pali translators themselves of great breadth; themselves having gone over the teachings of Buddhism many thousands of times, none of them ever came to the same conclusions whatsoever as Rahula has so blatantly done as it pertains to the nihilism that Rahula advocates. Explicity Buddhism says that "I have gone to the Soul (saranamattano) as (my) refuge" Digha Nikaya 2.120, and that "Nihilists (those who deny the Soul) end up in terrible Hell" Samyutta Nikaya 1.96. "What the Buddha Taught" is a commentary upon Theravada Abhidhamma Suicidism/Nihilism; never again will I read another book such as this which contradicts the fundamental teachings of Buddhism such as "Have thee the Soul as thy light (dipa)" Dn 1.154.
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