Название: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps: The Bloody Battles and Intrigues of the ShinsengumiАвтор: Romulus Hillsborough
Издательство: Tuttle Publishing
Год: 2021
Страниц: 277
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf, epub
Размер: 10.5 MB
The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps tells the thrilling story of the Shinsengumi—the legendary corps of Samurai warriors tasked with keeping order in Kyoto during the final chaotic years of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600–1868).
This book is about bloodshed and death and atrocity. It is also about courage and honor and fidelity. It explores some of the darkest regions of the human soul, and some of its most noble parts. The underlying themes in this historical narrative of the Shinsengumi are the extraordinary will to power and sense of self-importance of the leaders of that most lethal samurai corps, and the unsurpassed propensity to kill instilled by them into the rank and file.
The leaders of the Shinsengumi - Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo - are among the most celebrated men in Japanese history. Much has been written about the Shinsengumi, by acclaimed writers of Japanese history and by former Shinsengumi corpsmen. They have also been widely depicted - and romanticized - in numerous novels, period films, and, more recently, comic books and animation. In writing this first English-language narrative of the Shinsengumi, I have given precedence to capturing their essence and the main events of their history, rather than merely rewriting the tedious facts of their history. I have concentrated on the spirit of the Shinsengumi and their place in history, rather than on trivial details, particularly for situations in which my numerous sources contradict one another - with disconcerting frequency.
This book recounts the fascinating tales of political intrigue, murder and mayhem surrounding the fearsome Shinsengumi, including:
- The infamous slaughter at Ikidaya Inn where, after learning of a plan to torch the city, a group of Shinsengumi viciously attacked and killed a group of anti-Tokugawa plotters
- The bloody assassination of Serizawa Kamo, the Shinsengumi leader, under highly suspicious circumstances
- The final tumultuous battles of the civil war in which the Shinsengumi fought and died in a series of doomed last stands
Author and Samurai history expert Romulus Hillsborough uses letters, memoirs, interviews and eyewitness accounts to paint a vivid picture of the Shinsengumi, their origins, violent methods and the colorful characters that led the group.
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