Turnbull S. Samurai: The World of the Warrior

Osprey Publishing, 2003. — 224 p. — (General Military). — ISBN 1-84176-740-9.The world of the samurai - the legendary elite warrior cult of old Japan - has for too long been associated solely with military history. In this exciting new book, 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. Familiar topics such as the cult of suicide, ritualised revenge and the lore of the samurai sword are seen in the context of an all-encompassing warrior culture that was expressed through art and poetry as much as through violence. Using themed chapters, the book studies the samurai through their historical development and their relationship to the world around them - relationships that are shown to persist in Japan even today.The samurai in a nutshell.
The ancestors of the samurai.
The first samurai.
Challengers to the samurai.
The period of Warring States.
The passing of the samurai.
The genuine articles.
The first regalia.
The sacred replicas.
The regalia go to war.
Genuine fakes.
The last flourish.
The eternal regalia.
A passion for ancestors.
Pedigree and the ritualisation of combat.
The written pedigree.
Pedigree and anonymity.
The red badge of courage.
The red devils.
The loyal tradition.
The samurai way of death.
Suicide and the samurai.
Suicide and motivation.
Following in death.
Suicide as a group activity.
The lonely death of Nitta Yoshisada.
Weapons of mass destruction.
The Shimazu of Satsuma.
The Otomo of Bungo.
Cannon and The Otomo.
Disaster at The Mimigawa.
Cannon at Shimabara.
The siege of Usuki.
Shields of stone.
The evolution of the Japanese castle.
Castles and The Nagashino effect.
Earthworks in Korea.
Nobunaga and Azuchi.
Japanese castles and the European parallel.
Japanese castles in Korea.
Lessons from Korea.
Samurai with a pinch of salt.
The first Japanese pirates.
The scourge of the Wako
The pirate kings.
From pirates to sea lords.
Hideyoshi, the pirate-queller.
Samurai of fortune.
The kinf and Yamada.
The White Tigers.
The loyal daimyo.
The lords of Aizu.
The fanatics from Choshu.
The Meiji restoration.
The Aizu campaign.
The death of the White Tigers.
The destruction of Aizu.
Last of the samurai.
Saigo Takamori goes to war.
The siege of Kumamoto.
Suicide squads.
Aftermath.
The paradox of tranquility.
Glossary.

Index.