Libro detalladisimo de todo el periodo sengoku, narra con detalle inaccesible en cualquier otro texto multitud de campañas. Una joya. Read more

I had a great time reading this book. If you want to learn about the Sengoku period, there's no better place. I now have tons of new places I want to visit for my next trip to Japan. I can only hope the author has plans for other books on Japanese history. Read more

Interesting account of Sengoku period. You had to be there. Read more

It is a great book. It begins with the origins of Nobunaga and ends with Ieyasu's dead. My only complaint is that there are a lot of name that mayabe are not that necessary to know and it lacks in maps to help visualize the places it talks about. But nonetheless it is a great book. Read more

I bought this book after getting hooked on the current (2023) NHK taiga drama, "Dou Suru Ieyasu", and I needed something to help me keep all the many characters and relationships straight. Within a few days of starting to read this book, I was already better able to figure out who was who on the show, and understand why they were all doing what they did. This is thanks to Danny Chaplin's dedication to painting as full and as human a portrait as possible of as many people as possible. He makes sure to include personal stories about almost everyone involved in the history of the three warlords, as well as physical descriptions where possible (such as when a particular person was known to cut a particularly dashing figure on the battlefield), and insights into what may have been going on in their minds. Chaplin makes the many characters come alive, which has really enhanced my understanding and enjoyment of the show. In addition to the human element, Chaplin present exhaustive information about the timeline, such that no important detail is left undiscussed. Again, this has really helped me to follow along with Dou Suru Ieyasu. Even at those moments when I don't catch every word of the Japanese dialogue, I can still follow along with the plot thanks to what I've read in this book. While it is true that the presentation style takes some getting used to at first, as numbers and lists of names can sometimes come in dense blocks before the "action" gets started in a chapter, I would encourage anyone who really wants to learn about this time period to push through it. If you're like me, you'll get used to the style, and possibly even figure out places where you can skim through to the information that interests you. But that is one of the best things about this book -- there is enough information for everyone. Someone who is interested in the exact income per year of a particular daimyo will find what they want here, along with someone who may be interested in something else entirely, such as what the armour of a particular warrior looked like. Additionally, I enjoy the fact that Chaplin doesn't take sides in favor of one historical figure over another. He presents each person neutrally and fairly. Nobody is presented as all good or all bad, or better than anyone else, which is nice. If I had to nitpick, I would point out a few small things. 1) One particular section describes Hideyoshi as "in his prime" at age 45, but then describes his early-40s sister as "aging". To be fair, the "aging" statement was written to contrast how she differed from some young concubines, and how a grown woman probably didn't want to be offered up as a trophy in a dynastic marriage, but the way it was phrased made me stop and think about the lopsided aging standards which society applies to women but not to men. This may not have been Chaplin's intent, but that's just how it struck me. 2) There is sometimes a lack of necessary commas, which can make it hard to parse the meaning of certain sentences on a first read. With these things aside, I would wholeheartedly recommend this as a must-have piece for the library of anyone interested in the Sengoku Jidai, and I would especially recommend it for someone who is a beginner in that area of study. I knew nothing about this period prior to reading this book and watching Dou Suru Ieyasu, and now I feel like I know very much indeed! Thanks to Danny Chaplin for putting together such a wonderful resource, which has most definitely increased my knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of the highly complex world of the three unifiers of Japan! Read more