Shogun: A Novel of Japan (Coronet Books) [Import] [Paperback]

JAMES CLAVELL (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 1248 pages
• Publisher: HODDER & STOUGHTON LTD; New Ed edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340209178
• ISBN-13: 978-0340209172
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.6 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,239,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Clavell, who died in 1994, was a screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although he wrote the screenplays for a number of acclaimed films, including The Fly (1958), The Great Escape (1963), and To Sir With Love (1967), he is best known for his epic novels in his Asian Saga.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for weak of heart, February 22, 2008

By 

Elaine Silverstein "word smithie" (Texas along the Gulf Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shogun: A Novel of Japan (Coronet Books) (Paperback)

Thoroughly researched, as are all of Clavell's works, Shogun takes you on a non-stop cultural and political roller-coaster ride. I read this novel in 3 days - with work interrupting - over 15 years ago. It has never left me. The Portuguese have been guarding the trade route to Japan. Profits are high. Politics are dangerous, both within the European community that has the sudden influx of the wreaked sailors from an English vessel, and the Japanese court and its Samurai warriors and generals - and their ladies. Advancement and power are paired with honor and death. Torture is not so much a tool as an advocation. Deception might just be honorable.
If you enjoy intrigue, an insider's indepth view of the workings of power in a culture both unlike and like our own, powerful relationships of all kinds (based on power, on gender, and on both), and exciting historical fiction of the highest caliber, then you don't want to miss this one. King Rat and Tai-pai follow, but this is the best of the three.