favoriteharuhi's review against another edition
5.0
Terrific at balancing the macro-story of the country with human interest stories throughout - told at a pace that keeps it immensely readable and engaging. Highly recommended as a primer, and a jumping off point for further investigation.
hockeyceres's review against another edition
3.0
Uno spaccato interessante della storia del Giappone. Libro veloce, con molti aspetti che andrebbero ulteriormente approfonditi.
elsenjorm10's review against another edition
4.0
Muy bueno, justo lo que quería, un resumen de lo más importante para conocer la historia un poco y captar mi interés. He aprendido un montón de cosas muy interesantes y aunque alguna parte de la antigüedad me resultó un poco confusa y aburridas otras partes fueron apasionantes y muy informativas.
alex_stanuta's review against another edition
4.0
A "surprisingly" easy to read historical book. It is filled with facts and historic figures, most of which I will probably forget in a month.
Still, a solid read and mildly entertaining book.
Still, a solid read and mildly entertaining book.
ganettorain's review against another edition
4.0
A concise and compulsively readable history of Japan that is, as it says in its title, brief. While I did wish that the book went into some detail for certain events/ figures that I found fascinating, this book is clearly meant to give more of an overview and an overarching narrative of Japan more than anything else. In that, it succeeded despite a bewildering beginning, somewhat helped by my limited knowledge of Japanese history from my Japanese language lessons a decade ago. I am now hankering after more books like this!
filipmagnus's review against another edition
5.0
What an excellent novel for a layman who knows little to nothing about Japanese history! 'A Brief History of the Samurai' presents historical fact and folktale alike, contrasting real events with incredible legends!
This is thoroughly researched, and has an excellent 'Sources and Recommended Reading' section, which will aid my reading on the topic of Japanese history a great deal.
Five stars, and my hearty recommendation to anyone who's interested in Japanese history but uncertain where to start.
This is thoroughly researched, and has an excellent 'Sources and Recommended Reading' section, which will aid my reading on the topic of Japanese history a great deal.
Five stars, and my hearty recommendation to anyone who's interested in Japanese history but uncertain where to start.