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Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps
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Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps
<div><span><br /><br /><span><i>Shinsengumi: The Shogun's last Samurai Corps</i></span><span> is the true story of the notorious<br />samurai corps formed in 1863 to arrest or kill the enemies of the Tokugawa<br />Shogun. The only book in English about the Shinsengumi, it focuses on the<br />corps' two charismatic leaders, Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, both<br />impeccable swordsmen. It is a history-in-brief of the final years of the<br />Bakufu, which collapsed in 1867 with the restoration of Imperial rule. In<br />writing Shinsengumi, Hillsborough referred mostly to<br />Japanese-language primary sources, including letters, memoirs, journals,<br />interviews, and eyewitness accounts, as well as definitive biographies and<br />histories of the era.<span></span><span>                               </span></span><br /><br /><span>The fall of the shogun's government (Tokugawa Bakufu, or simply Bakufu) in<br />1868, which had ruled Japan for over two and a half centuries, was the greatest<br />event in modern Japanese history.</span><br /><br /><span>The revolution, known as the Meiji Restoration, began with the violent<br />reaction of samurai to the Bakufu's decision in 1854 to open the theretofore<br />isolated country to "Western barbarians." Though opening the country was<br />unavoidable, it was seen as a sign of weakness by the samurai who clamored to<br />"expel the barbarians."</span><br /><br /><span>Those samurai plotted to overthrow the shogun and restore the holy emperor<br />to his ancient seat of power. Screaming "heaven's revenge," they wielded their<br />swords with a vengeance upon those loyal to the shogun.</span><br /><br /><span>They unleashed a wave of terror at the center of the revolution - the<br />emperor's capital of Kyoto. Murder and assassination were rampant. By the end<br />of 1862, hordes of renegade samurai, called <span>ronin</span>,<br />had transformed the streets of the Imperial Capital into a "sea of blood."</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>The shogun's administrators were desperate to stop the terror. A band of<br />expert swordsmen was formed. It was given the name Shinsengumi ("Newly<br />Selected Corps") - and commissioned to eliminate the <span>ronin</span> and<br />other enemies of the Bakufu.</span><br /><br /><span>With unrestrained brutality bolstered by an official sanction to kill, the<br />Shinsengumi soon became the shogun's most dreaded security force.</span><br /><br /><span>In this vivid historical narrative of the Shinsengumi, the only one in the English language,<br />author Romulus Hillsborough paints a provocative and thrilling picture of this<br />most fascinating period in Japanese history.</span><i></i></span></div> Country USA Manufacturer Tuttle Publishing Binding Kindle Edition ReleaseDate 2013-06-25T00:00:00.000Z Format Kindle eBook
