Customer Reviews

Samurai: The World of the Warrior

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Samurai: The World Of The Warrior by Stephen Turnbull (Honorary Research Fellow, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds), is an extraordinary historical work that examines the legendary professional and hereditary warrior class of ancient Japan. Stretching its focus beyond the military aspect of the samurai, Professor Turnbull deftly explores the culture and world that surrounded them. Full-color illustrations of classical works of art and artifacts highlight and enhance this informed and informative 224-page cultural and historical exploration with its immersion into the powerful societal, psychological, and physical forces that shaped these strictly disciplined warriors. Samurai: The World Of The Warriors is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Japanese History and Martial Arts History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

This is a good but not great book. Turnbull is clearly knows quite a bit about his subject and there is a lot of interesting information contained in this book. I think, however that there were a few issues that held "The World of the Warrior" back. First of all, his treatment of Medieval Japanese history is a bit too superficial. I know it was not his intention to write a narrative history, I still think, however, a more systematic approach was needed.

The most glaring issue was the fact that he essentially ignores the traditional weapons of the Samurai. The one chapter on weapons focuses on guns and artillery. It was an interesting chapter, but hardly sufficient. Especially when one realizes, as Turnbull himself makes clear, that guns were not Samurai weapons but rather weapons used by peasant soldiers. I am well aware that he did not intend his book to be only about the military aspects of Samurai life, but this book needed at least one chapter about the traditional, medieval weapons of the Samurai.

I found this book on the Samurai to be very well written. For a novice on this subject, it provided me with a great deal of insite into the history of these individuals. I would recommend this book to anyone. By the way, I was able to purchase a used copy of this bood for $2.50 plus shipping and it looked like new! Check this one out, it is worth it.

Turnbull has shown his merits as both a research scholar and author. His fundamental knowledge of both Japanese history, as well as, Samurai culture, has been exquisitly displayed in Samurai: The World of the Warrior. His writing style is very easy to follow and provides a dynamic glimpse into this veiled subculture. The descriptions of both battles and battlements is to say the very least, interesting and well thought out. As an amateur reader of all types of historical accounts, Turnbull has shown that Japanese culture is extremely interesting in its own right and clearly demonstrates that which makes the Samurai unique in this publication. For anyone interested in gaining an easy insight into this corner of history, I wholeheartedly recommend Turnbull's account.

This book goes beyond samurai warfare.It goes into great detail about the origin of samurai traditions and how they still remained intact all the way to world war 2.

This book has a lot of illustrations almost one on every page.
if you want to learn about samurai you have to read this book.

~Samurai: The World of the Warrior~ is a fascinating window into the culture and history of the Japanese Samurai. Stephen Turnbull is regarded as one of the leading authorities on the Samurai. Some of his books get a little repetitive admittedly. I would recommend starting with the _Samurai and the Sacred_.

The Samurai are bit idealized by the later-day world and popularized by the popular culture with such films as the Last Samurai. The Samurai culture is strange to Westerners, whether their acceptance of ritual suicide or the ritualized revenge. But Turnbull tries to shed light on the subject, motivations and the lore of the samurai. This old feudal martial order under the daimyo had their good qualities, however, we should not ignore the reality that they embodied an oligarchy that essentially lorded over Japan while tyrannizing the populace for centuries on end. Overall, the Meiji Restoration which ended their artificial system of patronage at the expense of the common man was a good thing.

This book is the History of the Samurai Warrior and it is packed
with information. It not only gives a summery but explains the live a death of a proud warrior. It is a gripping account that tells a story
and keeps one's interest to understand a world that has inspired a nation.
This book is factual and compelling.

Mr. Turnbull is the best author in his field. He continues to shed light on a topic long ignored by military and non-miltraty historians.