Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter One: Becoming Those Who Served
Chapter Two: Early Warrior Authority
Chapter Three: War and Culture
Chapter Four: Warriors in an Age of Peace
Chapter Five: Samurai Invention and Decline
Notes
Further Reading
Index

About the Author

Michael Wert is Associate Professor of East Asian History at Marquette University. Specializing in early modern and modern Japan, he is the author of Meiji Restoration Losers: Memory and Tokugawa Supporters in Modern Japan.

Reviews

"In this myth-busting race through 1,100 years of samurai history, Wert reveals how the Japanese warrior class not only not only influenced military matters, but also culture, religion, and the arts." -- Ellie Cawthorne and Matt Eltom, BBC History Magazine
"The term samurai brings to mind disciplined, well-trained warrior-soldiers, skillfully wielding swords and following a strict military-ethical code of honor and sacrifice. Michael Wert, an associate professor at Marquette University who specializes in Japanese history, seeks to dispel this popular depiction in his fascinating short history of the samurai." -- Francis P Sempa