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A short general introduction sets the scene: there is also a timeline to provide a chronological overview of samurai history, but the bulk of the book is an A to Z biographical dictionary of famous samurai leaders from the extended families of Japan—people whose personalities and lives were as colorful as their armor and clothing, vividly represented in the accompanying illustrations. All the great shoguns of Japanese history are covered: Tajihi Agatamori, probably the first to bear the title of shogun; the great leaders of the Genpei Wars—the twelfth century battles that led to the fall of the Taira clan and Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192; Oda Nobunaga, the sixteenth century warlord whose campaigns against the Takeda clan led to the epic battle of Nagashino in 1575, and who was forced to kill himself by his traitorous retainer Akechi Mitsuhide; Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose from the ranks (his father was a peasant farmer) to become Nobunaga’s successor; and Tokugawa Ieyasu—heralded by many as the finest samurai leader of all—victory at Sekigahara in 1600 and founder of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan from 1600 until 1868.
Samurai Leaders provides a colorful and vivid survey of Japanesemilitary history through the exploits of the country’s most famous commanders, many brilliantly illustrated by contemporary woodcuts.
samurai_1582
Posted March 29, 2010
I found this book to be pretty informative but had some issue with the editors. It is apparent that a very lazy eye was looking over this as several times I found the same word twice, i.e. the the..., and a few others. Also, I feel that certain words were not spelled properly such as daiymo and when listing battles. I know this seems rather picky but it does not look good to the author to have these types of mistakes. As for this author he seems to have done his research but there were several occassions that I question the facts he gave. Finally, he seemed to also try to use big words to make it seem more scholarly when in fact the words that were chosen did not flow very well and/or seemed out of place with what he was saying. I feel this book could have been better researched and written. All in all it was a quick read to get someone started about the leaders listed in the book.
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Posted May 4, 2009
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Posted February 15, 2009
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Overview
There have been many books on the subject of the samurai, the warrior knights of Japan. Most have covered the subject chronologically or examined the samurai way of life—their adherence to Bushi-do, the way of the warrior—and their weapons, armor, and battles. This book is different. It examines in detail over a hundred of the most famous of the samurai leaders, the top names of Japan warrior’s caste.
A short general introduction sets the scene: there is also a timeline to ...