Product Description

The world of the samurai, the legendary elite warrior cult of old Japan, has long been associated solely with military history and has remained a mystery to the general reader. In this paperback edition, 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. This book explores the samurai within the context of an all-encompassing warrior culture that was expressed through art and poetry as much as through violence. Using themed chapters, Turnbull illuminates the samurai through their historical development and their relationship to the world around them - relationships that are shown to persist in Japan even today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #375734 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-27
• Released on: 2006-06-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
"The best military history series published today--indispensable."

About the Author
Stephen Turnbull took his first degree at Cambridge University, and received a PhD from Leeds University for his work on Japanese religious history. He has travelled extensively in Europe and the Far East and also runs a well-used picture library. His work has been recognised by the awarding of the Canon Prize of the British Association for Japanese Studies and a Japan Festival Literary Award. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds.

Customer Reviews

Stretching its focus beyond the military aspect
Samurai: The World Of The Warrior by Stephen Turnbull (Honorary Research Fellow, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds), is an extraordinary historical work that examines the legendary professional and hereditary warrior class of ancient Japan. Stretching its focus beyond the military aspect of the samurai, Professor Turnbull deftly explores the culture and world that surrounded them. Full-color illustrations of classical works of art and artifacts highlight and enhance this informed and informative 224-page cultural and historical exploration with its immersion into the powerful societal, psychological, and physical forces that shaped these strictly disciplined warriors. Samurai: The World Of The Warriors is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Japanese History and Martial Arts History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Samurai - The World of the Warrior
I found this book on the Samurai to be very well written. For a novice on this subject, it provided me with a great deal of insite into the history of these individuals. I would recommend this book to anyone. By the way, I was able to purchase a used copy of this bood for $2.50 plus shipping and it looked like new! Check this one out, it is worth it.

An Exciting Account
Turnbull has shown his merits as both a research scholar and author. His fundamental knowledge of both Japanese history, as well as, Samurai culture, has been exquisitly displayed in Samurai: The World of the Warrior. His writing style is very easy to follow and provides a dynamic glimpse into this veiled subculture. The descriptions of both battles and battlements is to say the very least, interesting and well thought out. As an amateur reader of all types of historical accounts, Turnbull has shown that Japanese culture is extremely interesting in its own right and clearly demonstrates that which makes the Samurai unique in this publication. For anyone interested in gaining an easy insight into this corner of history, I wholeheartedly recommend Turnbull's account.