Samurai Invasion: Japan's Korean War 1592 -1598 - Hardcover

Turnbull, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0304359483 ISBN 13: 9780304359486

Publisher: UNKNO, 2002

Synopsis

It's an extraordinary tale, largely untold--until now. Researched in both Japanese and Korean archives, and authored by the world's most acclaimed historian of the Samurai period, here is the most complete account yet written of Japan's two invasions of Korea. It includes, among other treasures, never-before seen Japanese illustrations and battle reports. By the end of the 16th century, the Samurai had taken total control of their own domestic territory and looked abroad for new lands to conquer. The ultimate target was China, but Korea was to provide the jumping-off point to that victory. The incursion marked the first time the Samurai had attacked another country, and at first the Koreans drove them away. Retribution was inevitable, and the Japanese returned in 1597 to wreak havoc in a war of unbelievable savagery. With extracts from contemporary Japanese field diaries not seen for over 400 years, this is a volume no follower of Samurai lore can resist.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr Stephen Turnbull has made himself the world's expert on the Samurai, using his years of diligent research to publish a whole series of bestselling Samurai histories. He is widely employed as a consultant authority on Japanese history and religion.

From Library Journal:

After unifying Japan by force, in 1592 Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536-98) attempted to establish an empire in East Asia. The conquest of China was his ultimate objective, but Korea had to be subdued first. Instead, it proved an insuperable obstacle to Hideyoshi's imperial fantasy. Turnbull's lively and lavishly illustrated history of the failed invasion brightly illuminates the world of late 16th-century warfare in East Asia. After reeling under the initial Japanese attacks, Korean regular and irregular forces, aided by armies from Ming China, eventually turned the Japanese back, but the invasion did not end until Hideyoshi's death in 1598. Skillfully piecing together contemporary accounts from Japanese and Korean sources, the author provides a vivid and horrifying picture of the strategy, tactics, and technology of Japanese warfare. Brutality was the norm, and hand-to-hand combat produced butchery rivaling the worst of modern wars. In Kyoto a single burial mound holds the sliced-off noses of 30,000 Korean and Chinese victims of Japanese slaughter. Absorbing and accessible, Turnbull's book will interest general readers and belongs in public as well as college libraries.
Steven I. Levine, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lib.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: UNKNO
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0304359483
• ISBN 13: 9780304359486
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256