Samurai: An Illustrated History

Samurai: An Illustrated History

Samurai: An Illustrated History brings the violent, tumultuous, and, at the same time, elegant world of the medieval Japanese samurai to life.

This book of Japanese history traces the story of a unique historical phenomenon: a period of 700 yearsâ€”equivalent to the entire stretch of Western history between the reigns of the Crusader king Richard the Lionhearted and of Queen Victoria at the height of the British Empireâ€”during which an enclosed civilization was dominated by a single warrior caste.

The historical narrative of samurai history is supported by explanations of samurai armor, weapons, fortifications, tactics, and customs, and illustrated with nearly 800 fascinating color photographs, maps, and sketches, including ancient scroll paintings and surviving suits of armor preserved for centuries in Japanese shrines.

From the 12th to the 19th centuries the history of Japan was effectively the history of the samuraiâ€”the class of professional fighting men. At first, they were no more than lowly soldiery employed by the court aristocracy of Kyoto, but the growing power of the provincial warrior clans soon enabled them to brush aside the executive power of the imperial court and to form their own parallel military government. Though individual dynasties came and went in cycles of vigor and decadence, the dominance of the samurai as a class proved uniquely resilient.
Country USA
Manufacturer Tuttle Publishing
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2014-11-25
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Tuttle Publishing
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2014-11-25
Format	Kindle eBook

Samurai: An Illustrated History

You might also like...