{"title":"Stephen Turnbull","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into gripping historical accounts with Stephen Turnbull, a master of samurai history and military analysis. Perfect for history buffs and those fascinated by Japanese warfare, explore tales of honour, strategy and adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"strongholds-of-the-samurai-book-stephen-turnbull-9781846034138","title":"Strongholds of the Samurai","description":"The earliest fortifications in Japan were developed with the appearance of the first emperors in around 250 and were often simple wooden constructions. As internal strife became a way of life in Japan, more and increasingly elaborate fortifications. This book covers the entire period of Japanese castle development from the very first fortifications, through to the sophisticated structures of the 16th and 17th century, explaining how they were adapted to withstand Samurai firearms and exploring life within these castles. 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Instead he examines the entire phenomenon in a critical manner, ranging from accounts of undercover operations during the age of Japan s civil wars to the modern emergence of the superman ninja as a comic book character. The popular ninja image is shown to be the result of several influences that were combined to create the world s greatest secret warrior.  Many well-known features of the ninja tradition such as the black clothes and the iron stars are shown to be complete inventions. One important feature of the book is the use of original Japanese sources, many of which have never been translated before. As well as unknown accounts of castle attacks, assassinations and espionage they include the last great ninja manual, which reveals the spiritual and religious ideals that were believed to lie behind the ninja s arts. 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The period was a time of transition and innovation: a time, perhaps, when both military technology and military thinking were moving forward in accomplishment and backwards in morality. It was also a period that has provided fertile ground for the identification of a 'military revolution'. New technology on the battlefield posed deadly challenges for the mounted warrior, but it also stimulated change, and the knight moved with the times. Having survived the longbow devastation at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt, he emerged triumphant, his armour lighter and more effective, and his military skills honed. From the eerie spectacle of a bristling 'hedgehog' of Swiss pikemen oozing its way across the battlefield, to the gargantuan cannon that breached the walls of Constantinople and required seventy oxen to move it, the developments in medieval warfare detailed in this book provide intriguing reading. Fighting was also conducted at sea, the lot of a typical oarsman being so arduous that a recruiting drive in Venice in 1522 offered, among other inducements, freedom for life from personal taxation, training in firearms, permission to wear personal arms (a coveted privilege), and freedom from prosecution for debt during galley service and for six months afterwards. This is a remarkably informative and entertaining book that will appeal to anyone interested in how battles were fought and won in the Dark Ages. 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