The Last Samurai: Glory and Destruction

Author: (English) Turnbull, translated by Liu Hansheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The life of a samurai is like a blooming cherry blossom, beautiful yet fleeting. In the heart of a samurai, death is no more than the withering of a flower, natural and glorious. A vivid and convincing study of the samurai. Stephen Turnbull skillfully blends academic research with storytelling, accurately and engagingly narrating the history of the samurai. Exquisite illustrations and high-quality text are interwoven to create an outstanding work worthy of its heroic subject. – Professor Richard Holmes
For a long time, the samurai – this legendary "heroic" group from ancient Japan – has been associated with the history of military warfare. However, Stephen Turnbull, a renowned British historian and an authority on samurai history, in this gripping work, shifts his focus beyond the bloody battlefields to paint a realistic picture of the samurai world for us. Many well-known themes such as seppuku (ritual suicide), ritualized revenge, and the Japanese sword, which are often portrayed through violence and slaughter, are given artistic and poetic interpretations in this book. The book is divided into several thematic chapters, showcasing the development of the Japanese samurai class and the relationship between the samurai and the surrounding world – a special relationship that still lingers in Japanese society today.