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Samurai William

The Englishman Who Opened the East

By Giles Milton

(3)

| Hardcover | 9780374253851

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Book Description

An eye-opening account of the first encounter between England and Japan, by the acclaimed author of Nathaniel's Nutmeg

In 1611, the merchants of London's East India Company received a mysterious letter from Japan, written several years previously by a marooned English mariner named WilContinue

An eye-opening account of the first encounter between England and Japan, by the acclaimed author of Nathaniel's Nutmeg

In 1611, the merchants of London's East India Company received a mysterious letter from Japan, written several years previously by a marooned English mariner named William Adams. Foreigners had been denied access to Japan for centuries, yet Adams had been living in this unknown land for years. He had risen to the highest levels in the ruling shogun's court, taken a Japanese name, and was now offering his services as adviser and interpreter.

Seven adventurers were sent to Japan with orders to find and befriend Adams, in the belief that he held the key to exploiting the opulent riches of this forbidden land. Their arrival was to prove a momentous event in the history of Japan and the shogun suddenly found himself facing a stark choice: to expel the foreigners and continue with his policy of isolation, or to open his country to the world. For more than a decade the English, helped by Adams, were to attempt trade with the shogun, but confounded by a culture so different from their own, and hounded by scheming Jesuit monks and fearsome Dutch assassins, they found themselves in a desperate battle for their lives.

Samurai William is the fascinating story of a clash of two cultures, and of the enormous impact one Westerner had on the opening of the East.

Critics

  • SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH BOOKS » Blog Archive » Giles Milton–SAMURAI WILLIAM

    “A bear of a man – tough as salt pork and bred to survive hardship. While others wilted and died…Adams remained in rude health. He munched his way through joints of raw penguin to keep himself alive [on the journey to Japan] and, when he had sucked t ... (read full critics)

    marywhipplereviews published on Sun, 8 Jan 2012

  • Go East, young man

    Three years ago Giles Milton rocketed onto the bestseller lists with the quirky and entertaining Nathaniel's Nutmeg, the story of the battles for the Banda archipelago in the Spice Islands. With Dava Sobel's Longitude, it was one of the originators o ... (read full critics)

    spectator published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

1 Review

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  • I suggest <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3520323&book=18648027">Adams the Pilot: The Life and Times of Captain William Adams: 1564-1620</a> instead.

    Is this helpful?

    mononoaware said on Mar 22, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

  • Rating:
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  • English Books
  • Hardcover 368 Pages
  • Edition: 1st American ed
  • ISBN-10: 0374253854
  • ISBN-13: 9780374253851
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  • Pub date: Jan 18, 2003
  • Dimensions: 1419 mm x 968 mm x 194 mm Just how big is that?
  • Also available as: Paperback and eBook
  • In other languages: other languages Libri Italiani
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9780374253851 Hardcover $24.00 -- The Book Depository
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