Samurai Armies 1467-1649

Description

The Sengoku The Jidai, 'Age of Warring States', is the age of the samurai the military aristocracy of Japan. This period, which lasted from the outbreak of the Onin War in 1467 to the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 17th century, was a period of endemic warfare, when a lack of central control led to constant struggles between the daimyo, 'great names', who sought to extend the influence of their families through political and military means. This title will examine the complicated nature of family and clan that governed so much of the initial organization of the armies, how this changed over the period and how battlefield tactics developed over a series of major encounters such as Nagashino and Sekigahara.

Stephen Turnbull took his first degree at Cambridge University, and received a PhD from Leeds University for his work on Japanese religious history. He has travelled extensively in Europe and the Far East and also runs a well-used picture library. His work has been recognised by the awarding of the Canon Prize of the British Association for Japanese Studies and a Japan Festival Literary Award. He currently divides his time between lecturing in Japanese Religion at the University of Leeds and writing.

"The Sengku Jidai was the sage of the samurai in early Japan -- and Stephen Turnbull's discussion of the evolution and contributions of samurai armies to Japanese warfare makes for a detailed survey of not just army structure, but the family and clan ties that made it up. Military libraries strong in historic surveys as well as any collection strong in early Japanese history will find here a detailed winner." --California Bookwatch (March 2009)