Nagashino 1575: Slaughter at the barricades (Campaign) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Howard Gerrard (Illustrator) "The siege of Nagashino castle and the battle of Nagashino which followed it make up one of the pivotal moments in the history of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: siege lines, headquarters unit, Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Katsuyori, Takeda Shingen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When Portuguese traders took advantage of the constant violence in Japan to sell the Japanese their first firearms, one of the quickest to take advantage of this new technology was the powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga. In 1575 the impetuous Takeda Katsuyori laid siege to Nagashino castle, a possession of Nobunaga's ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu. An army was despatched to relieve the siege, and the two sides faced each other across the Shidarahara. The Takeda samurai were brave, loyal and renowned for their cavalry charges, but Nobunaga, counting on Katsuyori's impetuosity, had 3,000 musketeers waiting behind prepared defences for their assault. The outcome of this clash of tactics and technologies was to change the face of Japanese warfare forever.

From the Publisher

Highly visual guides to history's greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics, and experiences of the opposing forces throughout each campaign, and concluding with a guide to the battlefields today.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing; illustrated edition edition (March 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855326191
• ISBN-13: 978-1855326194
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,738 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Work by the Don of Samurai Military History, April 18, 2000

By	James Geiger (Port Washington, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In Nagashino 1575, Stephen Turnbull again makes a valuable contribution to the limited body of works on samurai military history available in the English language. As in his earlier books, Mr. Turnbull gives as detailed a strategic and tactical account of the battle of Nagashino as is possible from the limitations of the historical sources. As in his earlier works, however, the author is careful to give a fair appraisal of the accuracy of the source. The book also balances the details with a overview of the events leading to the battle, as well as a general introduction to the players who will be well-known to samurai history fans, but likely unknown to anyone else. In addition to an interesting narrative, like other the volumes of Osprey's two Campaign and Men-at-Arms series, this book is full of illustrations and descriptions of the arms and equipment of the armies involved. The book's only defect is in its binding; the inner edges of the large 2-page illustrations disappear into the crease and hide the center portion of the image. Nevertheless, this book's many color and black-and-white illustrations will prove very useful to miniaturists and its maps an excellent resource for wargamers. This is a 5-star book for anyone with an interest in samurai warfare.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Important Samurai Battles Reviewed, October 11, 2001

By	T Kibatullin (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Stephen Turnbull is one of the best known scholars and active writers on the subject of samurai history. His book on Nagashino battle is probably a demonstration of what Dr. Turnbull does the best - case study.

The Nagashino starts with with historical background and goes thoroughly through the description of opposing armies, personalities of commanders and other key figures (including among others Okudaira Sadamasa, whose determined resistance to Takeda army in Nagashino castle played its part in making Takeda Katsuyori accept the challenge to fight the fatal for the clan of Takeda battle). Further the author describes in detail the structure of armies, tactics and strategy of Takeda and Oda/Tokugawa forces, the battle itself and aftermath.

Those interested in samurai loyalty will be interested in description of a famous incident when one of Tokugawa samurai, Torii Sune'emon captured by Takeda warriors and offered to serve the new lord. Sune'emon defied Katsuyori's orders and was killed. However, he was admired by both armies alike and one of the commanders of Takeda army was so impressed by Sune'emon's deed that he adopted a picture of the brave samurai on his banner!

The book is full of colour plates, maps and pictures of the battleground and provides wealth of information on the one of the most important battles in Japanese medieval history. During Nagashino Oda Nobunaga introduced volley arquebus fire, which forever changed the samurai warfare burying the old school of cavalry charge (Takeda army was famous for its cavalry attacks) of elite mounted warriors. The impact of Nagashino was felt by samurai commanders through Sekigahara.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor illustration of good material, July 14, 2000

By	Chris Milne (Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This book contains a very good description of the battle, both its cause, and results. It also amply describes the various personalities that participated on both sides. The reason I only give this 3 stars is because of the artwork and maps. Yes the book provides vital maps and some beautiful paintings, but they are printed on 2 page spreads. Given the binding of the book, you can't really see what's in the middle of say Nagashino Castle or the main battlefield without ripping the book in half the process. Beautiful paintings of Samurai in action are marred for the same reason. If the maps had been turned into pull out or fold out pages, it would have made things much clearer and more useful for wargaming etc. A different format would have made this a 4.5 star easily.