Samurai Armies 1467-1649

By Stephen Turnbull

The Sengoku Jidai or "Age of Warring States" is the time of the samurai - Japan's military aristocracy. A period of endemic warfare where the absence of unifying central control led to constant struggles between the daimyo (or "Great Names") who sought to protect and extend the influence of their respective families through political and military means. However, it was also a time of great military change, as technology advanced rapidly, and the introduction of European gunpowder revolutionized infantry tactics and fortification technology.

This title provides a highly detailed technical account of the samurai armies of Japan's Sengoku Jidai from the outbreak of the Onin War in 1467 to the publication of the final revised schedule for supplying troops to the Tokugawa Shogunate - by that time the government of united Japan - in 1649. It examines the complicated nature of family and clan that governed so much of the initial organization of the armies, how this changed over the period and how the battlefield tactics developed over a series of major encounters such as Nagashino and Sekigahara. Packed with rare photographs, maps, organizational charts and detailed text written by samurai expert Stephen Turnbull, this book is a unique insight into the organization of the armies of the samurai and is essential reading for anyone interested in the subject.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781472800039

Stephen Turnbull

Stephen Turnbull is widely recognised as the world's leading English language authority on the samurai of Japan. He took his first degree at Cambridge and has two MAs (in Theology and Military History) and a PhD from Leeds University. He is now retired and pursues an active literary career, having now published 85 books. His expertise has helped with numerous projects including films, television and the award-winning strategy game Shogun Total War.

Reviews for Samurai Armies 1467-1649

[shrike58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this Osprey monograph Turnbull examines the evolution of Japan's "feudal" armies from being personal war bands to their eventual coalescence as the army of the Tokugawa Shogunate; essentially the national army of Japan. Much time is spent on the links of social obligation that were the foundation of these forces, the typical organization and formations, and some examples of these forces in action which illustrate the course of their evolution; particularly the rise of massed infantry and the introduction of firearms.