Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan

Milton, Giles

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0340794674 ISBN 13: 9780340794678

Casa editrice: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2002

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.

Recensione:

Giles Milton is a man who can take an event from history and make it come alive. Milton's book delivers that most precious of commodities - fun. He has a genius for lively prose, and an appreciation for historical credibility. With Samurai William he has crafted an inspiration for those of us who believe that history can be exciting and entertaining. (Matthew Redhead, Times Play)

Milton's account of this remarkable life is rich in historical detail. It's a page-turner of a book, a good read, an accessible, well-crafted piece of popularised history. (Allan Spence, The Scotsman)

Giles Milton has once again shown himself to be a master of historical narrative. The story of William Adams is a gripping tale of Jacobean derring-do, a fizzing, real-life, Boys' Own adventure underpinned by genuine scholarship. (Katie Hickman, The Sunday Times)

Milton makes the story a compelling one. Lovingly researched and strikingly written (Time Out)

Giles Milton has been assiduous in searching through all the published sources. This is an attractive book. If it brings more readers to the marvellous story of how West discovered East and East discovered West, that's good. (Anthony Thwaite, Sunday Telegraph)

The subject matter of Samurai William is fascinating. Milton can certainly write, and is at his best when imaging the details of say, London's Limehouse district where "in the half-light of dawn, the dockside looked like the skeletal frame of a wrecked galleon". (James Wood, Scotland on Sunday)

An intensely readable account of the first trading missions to Japan. Giles Milton has managed to provide a complex history lesson in the form of an engaging narrative. Anyone interested in the mysteries of the East or in the cultural make-up of the inscrutable Japanese will find this an engaging read. (Alex Meehan, Sunday Business Post (Dublin))

Milton bring his customary panache to his latest work. This is an author who cannot buckle his swash. The basic story needs little gilding from Milton. Milton, however, gives it added breadth and depth by playing his two major trump cards: research and a clear writing style. Samurai William is swash-buckling in its scale and execution but, like its hero, it has quieter, perhaps more substantial traits. (Hugh MacDonald, Glasgow Herald)

Giles Milton again expertly navigating the eastern seas (Economist)

Giles Milton is a great biographer for the unknown. After his well-liked NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG and BIG CHIEF ELIZABETH he turns his painstaking researcher's eye on William Adams. Milton makes the story a compelling one. Lovingly researched and strikingly written. (Time Out)

Descrizione del libro:

The extraordinary adventures of the Englishman who opened the East.