Saturday, April 20, 2019

"African Samurai"

New from Hanover Square Press: African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard.

About the book, from the publisher:

The remarkable life of history’s first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Africa to the heights of Japanese society.

When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he'd already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, and trained into a boy soldier in India, he was now bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia.

From the volatile port city of Nagasaki to travel on pirate-infested waters, he lived it all and learned more every day. Among those drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan. Soon, Yasuke was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts, fighting in battles, and ascending to the upper echelons of Japanese society as samurai.

African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure, whose travels between countries, cultures, and classes offers a new perspective on world history and a vivid portrait of life, faith, and war in medieval Japan.
--Marshal Zeringue