Synopses & Reviews
Brushing aside the shrouds of myth and mystery, this book exposes the true world of the samurai, the legendary warrior cult of old Japan. Stephen Turnbull, the world's leading authority on samurai history, looks beyond the battlefield to uncover the full complexity of samurai life. His brand new text recreates a world that revolved as much around beauty as it did around violence, showing how ritualised revenge, the rite of suicide and the lore of the sword coexisted with art and poetry in seventeenth-century Japan. Themed chapters examine the historical development of the samurai and their relationship to the world around them, as well as revealing how samurai values persist in Japan today. Illustrated throughout with color photographs and images from the author's extensive collection.
Synopsis
Stephen Turnbull, the world's leading authority on samurai history, looks beyond the battlefield to uncover the full complexity of samurai life. He recreates a world that revolved as much around beauty as it did around violence, showing how ritualised revenge, and the lore of the sword coexisted with art and poetry in seventeenth-century Japan.
Synopsis
Brushing aside the shrouds of myth and mystery, this book exposes the true world of the samurai, the legendary warrior cult of old Japan.
Synopsis
The world of the samurai - the legendary elite warrior cult of old Japan - has for too long been associated solely with military history and has remained a mystery to the general reader. In this exciting new book, Stephen Turnbull, the world's leading authority on the samurai, goes beyond the battlefield to paint a picture of the samurai as they really were. Familiar topics such as the cult of suicide, ritualised revenge and the lore of the samurai sword are seen in the context of an all-encompassing warrior culture that was expressed through art and poetry as much as through violence. Using themed chapters, the book studies the samurai through their historical development and their relationship to the world around them - relationships that are shown to persist in Japan even today.