Osprey General Military. Samurai The World of the Warrior

Publisher: Osprey Publishing (October 2003) | ISBN: 9781841767406 | PDF | 36,6 Mb | 224 pagesThe 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.A lively and compelling study of the samurai, the warrior elite of old Japan. Stephen Turnbull blends real scholarship with a flair for story telling to create a gripping account. It is good to see illustrations that rise to the high quality of the text to produce a book wholly worthy of the remarkable characters it describes.