State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Thomas Donald Conlan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Center for; illustrated edition edition (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929280165
• ISBN-13: 978-1929280162
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,412,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ground-breaking scholarship and a good story, February 17, 2004

By 

Michael Norman "Writer and teacher" (Montclair, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) (Hardcover)

In a fine piece of scholarship, Thomas Conlan has written a book about samurai warfare that instantly cuts through the hoary myths that have skewed so many Japanese histories written in English. Here are the real samurai -- professional soldiers and policemen whose loyalty could be purchased or won with promise, flesh-and-blood men just as afraid of dying as anyone else, and just as ambitious and covetous. With a clear eye and an agile pen, Conlan -- one of the "new" practitioners of Japanese history to emerge in the last decade -- culls primary sources and proves that the samurai did not rush to their work, but rather preferred to fight from afar. This is an important history -- clearly written and beautifully illustrated -- important not only to the historiography of the era, but to the scholarship of WWII as well. It is easy to see now how the Imperial Japanese Army piped the perverted the "traditions" it used to send so many men to their deaths.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent... but not for the casual reader., June 27, 2010

By 

Jeremy Williamson (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) (Paperback)

Excellent highly academic overview of the stated period for astute readers. Previous knowledge of medieval Japanese history is recommended. Dry and difficult at times, but extremely informative and entertaining nonetheless. NOT for the casual interest reader (for those seeking a popular or layman's overview I highly recommend anything by Steven Turnbull, especially The Samurai: A Military History or The Samurai Sourcebook (Arms & Armour Source Books)). Enjoy!