Buddhadasa Bhikkhu is one of the most well-known and prominent Buddhist thinkers. He published numerous books and articles during his lifetime (1906–93) and his life and teachings are well researched. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu is often referred to as a reformer and he was influenced by Zen Buddhism and encouraged interfaith activities. Buddhadasa has also been regarded as a socially engaged Buddhist monk who inspired Buddhists to engage in development issues and social work. This is ascribed to his teaching of nibbana as a state of mind that is accessible to people in their daily life. Even though many Buddhists in Thailand attribute their engagement in social issues to Buddhadasa's teaching, Buddhadasa himself was not actively involved in social projects (p. 217).

Modern Buddhism and Buddhadasa Bhikkhu: A social history is a welcome contribution to the existing extensive research on Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. By exploring new sources of material and focusing on social history, the book provides new understanding of modern Thai Buddhism and of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. The book's main focus is on the social controversy that encircled Buddhadasa's teaching. Ito portrays Buddhadasa's development from a young age and she explains his teachings and provides a socio-political context that contributes to an understanding of the controversies he was involved in. She draws valuable details from letters and interviews about the special contact Buddhadasa had with his younger brother, Dhammadasa Phanit, and with other Buddhist intellectuals.

The research for this book was carried out meticulously and Ito draws on different types of information. She uses published material, popular literature, letters and also interviews with followers and people involved in the debates around Buddhadasa's teachings and controversies. Theoretically, Ito is inspired by Jürgen Habermas's notion of the public sphere and she analyses Buddhadasa's work by focusing on the Buddhist public sphere.

The book opens with an overview of Thai Buddhism's reformative movements before the twentieth century. It introduces Buddhadasa's affluent family background and his close relationship with his younger brother, Dhammadasa. Ito gives an interesting portrayal of both brothers' education and describes how they worked together to reform Buddhism. One chapter deals with the early development of Buddhadasa's work. In 1933, Buddhadasa and the Dhammadana Group launched the quarterly journal Buddhism, which had a great impact on Thai Buddhist intellectuals. Buddhadasa's articles and lectures created positive attention, but also provoked conflicts. Buddhadasa became a well-known and respected Buddhist thinker and chapter 3 gives an interesting account of how Buddhadasa's teachings spread to other parts of Thailand. In the following chapter, Ito deals with the notion of the central Buddhist concept of the ‘empty mind’. The focus here is not on the interpretation of Buddhadasa's teaching of the ‘empty mind’ in relation to other existing studies, but on discussions of the concept in the Buddhist public sphere. This chapter also displays how Buddhadasa's antagonists worked to undermine his authority. In chapter 5 Ito addresses the popularity of Buddhist doctrinal studies among Thai lay Buddhists and explores the ideological conflict caused by a controversial lecture on the Abhidhamma that Buddhadasa held in the mid-1960s, and this chapter also deals with the impact of that lecture. Ito sets the doctrinal debates in the socio-political context of the Cold War and states that the debates were not solely about doctrines as there was also a political undercurrent with the aim of damaging Buddhadasa's public reputation. The book explores Buddhadasa's encounter with Marxism, the intellectual exchange he had with several of his well-known Marxist followers and addresses the notion that Buddhadasa himself was a Marxist. Ito says that Buddhadasa did not say much about the rumours that he was a Marxist; instead he let others debate that subject. She assumes that Marxism inspired Buddhadasa's Buddhist view of society (p. 186). The development of Buddhadasa's Dhammic socialism and the development of social aspects in Thai Buddhism bear traits of Marxism. Dhammic socialism is described as a just social order inspired by Marxist concepts (p. 188). The book discusses the engaged Buddhist groups that are inspired by Buddhadasa's Dhammic socialism. The book ends with a chapter that was originally published in the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (2007), which was the first text that I am aware of about female ascetics in Suan Mokh. The chapter addresses women's role in Thai Buddhism and women's right to receive Buddhist ordination. It was not till he was old and his sister became severely ill that he paid attention to the unjust treatment of women in Buddhism and the importance of giving women access to the ordained state. Ito shows how Buddhadasa navigated away from the sensitive bhikkhuni issue, probably because that would have been an impossible subject to raise due to the public's negative opinion about bhikkhuni ordination and the sangha's firm resistance to bhikkhuni. Instead, Buddhadasa introduced Dhamma Mother as an alternative state to bhikkhuni and established the Dhammamata Hermitage for female practitioners at his temple in Suan Mokh.

Ito's work underlines that Buddhadasa Bhikkhu was a complex and sometimes provocative person. She depicts him as a straightforward monk with sympathies on the left, a man who did not fear to confront or challenge the existing political or social order. Some saw him as a troublemaker, while others admired his courage and intellectual capacity to address pressing issues.

The book is a revision of Ito's dissertation, and at times reads as such with an excess of detail. The book would have benefited from actively bringing in more recent work on Buddhist modernity into the analysis. Overall, this study of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu is an excellent contribution to Buddhist Studies, and it will contribute significantly to the field of modern Buddhist studies.