I have been fascinated with history in general, and the history of Japan, since I was in junior high when I read a book on the samurai. After attending summer school at Harvard in 1985, I resolved to devote myself to the study of Japan. Since then, I have studied at Michigan, Stanford, and Kyoto before teaching Japanese history at first Bowdoin College and now, Princeton University. Although I primarily research Japanese history, I find scholarship pertaining to medieval and early modern Europe to be fascinating as well.
This volume provides an overview of Japanese battles, weapons, and fighting techniques and reveals that much of what we had assumed to be true of the samurai has been misremembered or misunderstood. Covering centuries, and exploring the significance of bows, swords, guns, and cannons, this book should be of interest to scholars, students, and those curious about the samurai.
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A masterpiece. Royall Tyler translates this tale, which had been recited orally by blind monks in the fourteenth century, into beautiful English; the rhythms of the language, its beauty, tragedy, and poetry become accessible to an English-speaking audience for the first time. One of the greatest accomplishments in translation and a must-read for all interested in medieval Japanese warfare and epic war tales.
In his unsurpassed, informative, and intrinsically interesting study, Jordan reveals how France’s Louis IX settled over a thousand Muslims in France after his first Crusade during the thirteenth century. Jordan writes beautifully and through his careful research, engaging style, and polished prose, a forgotten world that few had imagined to even exist comes vividly alive.
A deeply engrossing story, where characters are transported back into time from contemporary Japan to zoos in Manchuria on the eve of Japan’s 1945 defeat. Although the narrative is disjointed, its characters are haunting, and the work is unforgettable. A mesmerizing tale by the greatest living novelist of Japan today.
Cipolla, a brilliant author, shows in this study how economic history and economic concepts can be used to study the past even when they did not exist at the time. Cipolla engagingly explains how economic concepts, even when unrecognized, can be useful tools of analysis. In order to demonstrate this principle, for example, he memorably explains how the clothes used to prevent plague in medieval Europe were effective for reasons totally different than contemporaries realized. Mistaken understandings could still lead to effective actions.
All should know more about the sublime work of Jan van Eyck, and his Ghent Altarpiece, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, one of the most masterful works of art ever conceived, was cherished by some, despised by others, and at times highlighted and hidden. Some parts of this work read like a thriller, particularly on somehow survived the end of WWII in an Austrian salt mine, while others read like a mystery, such as when one panel was stolen in 1934 and remains lost to this day.
5,888 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about the Middle Ages, Japan, and romantic love.
We think you will like The Tale of Murasaki, The Nobility of Failure, and The Tale of Genji if you like this list.
From Pamela's list on pre-modern Japan.
The perfect companion piece to The Tale of Genji, The Tale of Murasaki is a modern historical novel about Murasaki Shikibu (author of The Tale of Genji). Author Liza Dalby is a scholar of Japanese culture as well as the only Westerner ever to become a geisha. A meticulously researched, evocative window into Heian Japan.
From Pamela's list on pre-modern Japan.
The Japanese love underdogs. Ten are portrayed here, ranging from the 4th to the 20th centuries, with storylines that Shakespeare would’ve stolen if only he’d known about them. A terrific round-up that will inspire you to delve deeper into Japanese history.
From Brooks' list on history, myth, and fantasy, as imagination sees fit.
Jump ahead four hundred years, spin the globe a quarter turn, and we come to what most literary taxonomists will call the first ‘novel,’ The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, who was herself a lady of court during the Heian period. While not as jaw-dropping as the Procopius, Murasaki’s tale likewise functions as a window into a world so distant and exotic—from both a moral and aesthetic perspective—that its abiding and underlying familiarity consoles. And isn’t that the point? The supernatural influence is more subtle, but definitely there; witness the several instances of Mononoke—i.e., evil spirits given to possessing innocent minds. Murasaki provides two notable twists on the idea; first that such invasive spirits can originate either from this life or the afterlife (one of the prince’s courtesans does both). Relatedly, when the evil spirit travels from a living person into the psyche of the victim, two exhibits of mental illness are on display: that of the “possessed” and of the “possessor,” whose wandering spirit reflects disease as well. Our mental health, as such, is seen as being a function not just of chemistry and circumstance, but psycho-social infection. Hmmm…
