Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan

Milton, Giles

ISBN 10: 0340794674 / ISBN 13: 9780340794678

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2002

About this Item

Blue cloth boards, gilt title and attributions to spine. Straight edges, square corners. Minor wrinkling at crown and heel. Decorated pastedowns and endpapers. Signed by author on title page. Black and white map. Black and white images throughout. (xv)400pp. Complete jacket with wrinkles on front flap is otherwise fine.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1761388268571

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0340794674
• ISBN 13: 9780340794678
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biography

About this title

Synopsis

The adventures of the Englishman who opened the East. This book illuminates a Jacobean world whose horizons were rapidly expanding and a Japan that was still unknown to the rest of the world. In the winter of 1611, a letter was received by the merchants of the East India Company. The fact that it came from Japan, a forbidden and unknown land, was a cause of wonder, but even more remarkable was that the writer was an Englishman by the name of William Adams. Adams had sailed to the East in 1598, but most of his company had died by the time their ship was washed up unexpectedly in Japan. He fell in love with the barbaric splendour of the country and decided to settle. He forged a close friendship with the ruthless Shogun leyasu, took a Japanese wife and sired a new, mixed-blood family. However, his homesick letter to London inspired the merchants to plan an expedition to the Far East, wishing to trade with the Japanese through Adams' good offices.

About the Author

Giles Milton is a writer and journalist. He has contributed articles for most of the British national newspapers as well as many foreign publications and specialises in the history of travel and exploration. In the course of his researches, he has travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East.