Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan

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With all the adventure, derring do, and bloodcurdling battle scenes of his earlier book, Nathaniel s Nutmeg, acclaimed historian Giles Milton dazzles readers with the true story of William Adams the first Englishman to set foot in Japan and the inspiration for James Clavell s bestselling novel Shogun Beginning with Adams s startling letter to the East India Company in 1611 than a decade after he d arrived in Japan Samurai William chronicles the first foray by the Westinto that mysterious closed off land Drawing upon the journals and letters of Adams as well as the other Englishmen who came looking for him, Samurai William presents a unique glimpse of Japan before it once again closed itself off from the worldfor another two hundred years. Read Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan – kino-fada.fr Really a very ok sort of book that rather like a newspaper or magazine you might pick and idle through and if you forgot it somewhere, or indeed deliberately left on the seat next to you, you wouldn t feel any the poorer for the loss A typical journalists book in that it has a striking headline which really doesn t reflect the story, but is smoothly written and easy to read.Famously Japan closed itself off from foreign contact from the seventeenth century until obliged to engage with the world Really a very ok sort of book that rather like a newspaper or magazine you might pick and idle through and if you forgot it somewhere, or indeed deliberately left on the seat next to you, you wouldn t feel any the poorer for the loss A typical journalists book in that it has a striking headline which really doesn t reflect the story, but is smoothly written and easy to read.Famously Japan closed itself off from foreign contact from the seventeenth century until obliged to engage with the world in the nineteenth, so from the first one has to doubt that a late sixteenth century adventurer played much of a role in unlocking Japan, the book relates the factual basis behind the novel and later TV show Shogun, this I remember principally for its jaunty theme tune, perhaps in future due to e readers and what not all books will have theme tunes, even the paper ones, since you can buy annoying cards which play music when you open them view spoiler though I remember an episode of F...Even though this was the story of William Adams, the first Englishman in Japan, it was chocked full of historical data written in such a way that it didn t read like a history book There were stories of other brave souls Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish who undertook perilous voyages in search of international trade Remember it was the 1500 and 1600s It s hard in this day and age to imagine what the travelers suffered just on the sea but also once they arrived in Japan and the surrounding Even though this was the story of William Adams, the first Englishman in Japan, it was chocked full of historical data written in such a way that it didn t read like a history book There were stories of other brave souls Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish who undertook perilous voyages in search of international trade Remember it was the 1500 and 1600s It s hard in this day and age to imagine what the travelers suffered just on the sea but also once they arrived in Japan and the surrounding islands There was such a difference between European and Japanese culture One of my favorite lines comes early in the book when a scribe in Japan states that the foreigners thought nothing of shouting at and cursing each other They show their feelings without any se...In the 17th century, it would take a ship two years of ocean voyage to reach Japan from England Imagine that2 years of dried meat and weavil in your bread, storms, scurvy, possible mutiny and pirate attacks, and being with the same people in a confined space that had neither shower nor toilet flush 24 7 730 days Oh myIn William Adams s case though, it took longer By the time he and his shipmates reached Japan it wasthan two years because of a failed attempt at finding the fabled In the 17th century, it would take a ship two years of ocean voyage to reach Japan from England Imagine that2 years of dried meat and weavil in your br...In the early 1600s, the nation of Japan was a mystery to the West Aside from the Portuguese, who had gone there to trade and spread Christianity, very few Europeans had ever seen its shores As the valuable spice trade with the East Indies detailed in Milton s Nathaniel s Nutmeg How One Man s Courage Changed the Course of History grew, however, rumours about the endless riches of Japan spread and it soon became a key target for Dutch and British commercial interests One survivor from a In the early 1600s, the nation of Japan was a mystery to the West Aside from the Portuguese, who had gone there to trade and spread Christianity, very few Europeans had ever seen its shores As the valuable spice trade with the East Indies d...Perhaps misleading with the title, this book isthan the story of William Adams He fills a large part of the book, but it goes further, exploring the Portuguese and Spanish contacts with Japan, as well as the Dutch and English approaches It seemed a lot less about Adams and his personal life in Japan he was after all given a title hatamoto, a vast estate, and many retainers and labourers were his to own living on his estate, and he remained a ...This is the second book I ve read by Giles Milton, and it was another adventurous journey to the historical Far East, when the European powers were discovering other lands As with Nathaniel s Nutmeg, or, The True And Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History, the author opens up the story of a central historical mariner and his travels, in this instance to Shogun Japan.William Adams was marooned in the Land Of The Rising Sun and became the most important This is the second book I ve read by Giles Milton, and it was another adventurous journey to the historical Far East, when the European powers were discovering other lands As with Nathaniel s Nutmeg, or, The True And Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History, the author opens up the story of a central historical mariner and his travels, in this instance to Shogun Japan.William Adams was marooned in the Land Of The Rising Sun and became the most important foreign figure in the early 1600s of samurai culture and exquisite court customs We see the arrogant European powers discover how far advanced the Japanese were, while learning about the in fighting among the English and then the conflicts with the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish navies.This was hard to put down, I simply enjoyed the research Mr Milton put into this tome Plus, it calmed me...An excellent book This is the factual historical recounting of William Adams, the Englishman washed up on the shores of 1600 AD Japan during the reign of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasualso known as Toronaga in James Clavell s novel, SHOGUN Clavell s novel was made into a mini series on TV back in the 1980 s, Adams is Blackthorne in that ser...Really interesting book Thought it was going to be a fiction book when I first got it Turned out to be a great history book told as a story Enjoyed it a lot.This is a superb account of the English pilot from Limehouse who would have remained in obscurity had he not washed up with a handful of survivors in a storm battered Dutch ship on the coast of Japan in 1600 The pilot, William Adams, was the first Englishman in Japan and became an invaluable advisor to the future Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, with whom he gained unimaginable influence and was eventually rewarded with a Samurai lordship, becoming the first and possibly only foreigner to do so This This is a superb account of the English pilot from Limehouse who would have remained in obscurity had he not washed up with a handful of survivors in a storm battered Dutch ship on the coast of Japan in 1600 The pilot, William Adams, was the first Englishman in Japan and became an invaluable advisor to the future Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, with whom he gained unimaginable influence and was eventually rewa...I read James Clavell s historical fiction Shogun back when I was a young whippersnapper, dumb and oblivious to source material and the historical record of European trade with Japan in the 16th century Now older and wiser, I realize that the best stories are the true ones rather than the fictions I found Samurai William in a book sale at the right time Well documented and well told, this little gem is a non fiction page turner.As serendipity would have it, I chose two oddly related books for I read James Clavell s historical fiction Shogun back when I was a young whippersnapper, dumb and oblivious to source material and the historical record of European t...

Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan
  • English
  • 01 November 2018
  • Paperback
  • 368 pages
  • 0142003786
  • Giles Milton
  • Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan