This book has a number of articles on Maitreya by a number of authors.

Although considerable differences exist in Buddhist thought concerning the nature of a Buddha and the number of bodhisattvas for whom a prophecy has been made concerning future Buddhahood, Buddhists are unanimous in declaring the bodhisattva Maitreya to be the next Tathagata,’ the immediate successor to the Buddha Sakyamuni. One would expect such an heir apparent to have been a historical person closely associated with the Buddha, someone like the elder (thera) Ananda (before he disqualified himself by becoming an arhat!), the chief attendant of the Teacher during his lifetime and transmitter of his sermons after his parinirvana.