Samurai

A Very Short Introduction

By: Michael Wert

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

The idea of the sword-wielding samurai, beholden to a strict ethical code and trained in deadly martial arts, dominates popular conceptions of the samurai. As early as the late 17th century, they were heavily featured in literature, art, theater, and even comedy, from The Tale of the Heike to the kabuki retellings of the 47 ronin. This legacy remains with us today in countless renditions of samurai history in anime, manga, and video games. Acknowledging these common depictions, this book gives listeners access to the real samurai as they lived, fought, and served.

Much as they capture the modern imagination, the samurai commanded influence over the politics, arts, philosophy, and religion of their own time, and ultimately controlled Japan from the 14th century until their demise in the mid-19th century. On and off the battlefield, their story is one of adventures and intrigues, heroics and misdeeds, unlikely victories and devastating defeats. This book traces the samurai throughout this history, exploring their roles in watershed events such as Japan's invasions of Korea at the close of the 16th century and the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Coming alive in these accounts are the samurai, both famed and ordinary, who shaped Japanese history.

©2019, 2021 Oxford University Press (P)2021 Tantor

Not really about samurai, read Musashi instead

Wert comes off as a Westerner with an agenda to judge a foreign culture. aside from the fact that the author spends half of the book attempting to demonize the centrality of warrior values in Bushido, he also makes questionable analyzes like claiming that a Confucian perspective should be used to judge Bushido. this is two levels removed; it's not the Italians learning about pasta from the chinese, but more akin to a French chef telling a Spanish bureaucrat to judge how the Ferraris are made in Modena. there can be multiple perspectives on a subject, but perhaps the actual cultural natives have more credibility. I strongly recommend reading the Hagakure and Miyamoto Musashi's Book of The Five Rings. The Japanese named one of their most expensive ships after him from a position of honor; respect for arguably "THE" Kensei of Kenseis.