The world of the samurai-the legendary elite warrior cult of old Japan-has for too long been associated solely with military history. In this exciting 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, this book studies the samurai through their historical development and their relationship to the world around them-relatinships that are shown to persist in Japan even today.

Contents

Chapter One The samurai in a nutshell
Chapter Two The genuine articles
Chapter Three A passion for ancestors
Chapter Four The samurai way of death
Chapter Five Weapons of mass destruction
Chapter Six Shields of stone
Chapter Seven Samurai with a pinch of salt
Chapter Eight The white tigers
Chapter Nine Last of the samurai
Epilogue The paradox of tranquility
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

I found this to be a very well organized book, which I enjoyed reading. It is profusely illustrated and has a very good map. There is a good glossary.

As the title indicates, this is a book about the world of the Samurai, the 'legendary elite warrior cult of old Japan'. There are nine chapters and an Epilogue. The author has a pleasant reference to Cervantes and Don Quixote.

I wish I knew what the following Japanese words meant: 'no' (as in Dan no Ura and Ichi no tani), 'shima' and 'maru' (I thought it meant sea?). On each page there is a wide margin to the left, which I didn't like. The location of the page numbers was a real pain. The glossary should include appropriate entries for 'gohei' (three dimensional sashimono, page 59), 'kunikuzushi' (cannon, page 110, etal) and 'kanme' (unit of weight, page 110). The picture captions are usually a repetition of the text. The author should have elaborated on Japanese assault parties (page 127).

Read from February 1, to February 3, 2011. ( )