Arms & Armour Source Books: The Samurai Sourcebook

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The essentials of samurai warfare, weaponry and tradition are all explained in this comprehensive work of reference E on the samurai culture.The introduction outlines samurai history, and a detailed section on arms and armour includes the evolution and construction of samurai armour, the Japanese bow, the samurai sword and polearms - plus the technology and deployment of explosives and gunpowder weapons, including the fire lance and arquebus.The chapters on strategy and tactics include details of command structures, the raising of armies, campaign life, the role of the castle, the characteristics of Japanese battles and the rituals and other consequences of battle.A catalogue of every major battle and siege from 940 to 1638 is followed by ten specific case studies examining such subjects as personal combat and guerilla warfare. Further sections cover religion and the samurai, bushido and hara-kiri, and samurai heraldry.More than 175 maps, diagrams and illustrations, many previously unpublished outside Japan, add greatly to the text, and some forty anecdotes illuminate the heroic events of Japanese military history during the samurai period.Dr Stephen Turnbull is the recognised authority on the samurai tradition. He has travelled widely in Japan since his first visit in 1970 and is an expert on the Japanese religion. The Samurai Sourcebook is his latest in a long and eminent line of published works.