"Tanaka 1587 Japan's Greatest Unknown Samurai Battle" Topic

" This is a small book of 120 pages that goes into what happened in Japan right after the death of Oda Nobunaga. The siege of Tanaka Castle took place right after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's conquest of Kyushu. The siege at Tanaka castle was the culmination of the Higo Rebellion. Hideyoshi had installed Sassa Narimasa as the overlord of Higo Province. He was very unpopular with the locals, so they revolted.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the second of Japan's greatest warlords who tried to conquer all of Japan. Oda Nobunaga was well on his way to subduing all of Japan before he was brutally betrayed. Hideyoshi did manage to become the sole ruler of the land, but when he died he left as his heir a child. It was left to the third warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu to start a ruling family for the next 200+ years…"
Full Review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Just read through that. Well worth it for the composition of regional armies and superb reconstruction of the fortification based upon archeological and archival finds. There is, however, not much "battle" description and the illustration shows an event that is not supported by the text (two forces engaging each other in open battle – when the sources tell of very few (4) casualites on the defending side with hundreds on the assaulting forces, which hints to a pretty bad aborted assault upon the fortifications. Its not he fault of Turnbull, though, who reflects the sources. As with the subtitle I assume someone at the publisher bungled this to make it more attractive.

The text is well structured and written, as typical for Turnbull. Worth it if you are into Japanese history of the era, as it highlights an aspect that is not often shown – the "floating" alliances and loyalities, the structure of Hideyoshies control over Japan, the forming and results of an insurrection. In the end the book is, however, NOT about a battle but a siege, and details on the actual fighting are sparse.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand