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Ninja, AD 1460–1650

by Stephen Turnbull

Series: Osprey Warrior (64)

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1021264,642 (3.86)None
The Ninja were the secret agents and assassins of feudal Japan and they remain a subject of enduring fascination. They first emerged during the power struggles of 9th and 10th century Japan, in response to the increasing demand for spies, informants and even assassins, and they were used until the mid-1600s when they disappeared on account of a campaign to destroy them. This title provides an accurate and detailed account of the reality of the Ninja, detailing their daily life, training, hiring, combat use and secret operations; also covered are the Ninja's use and knowledge of poisons, medicines and charms.… (more)
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Excellent book giving overview of Ninja historical facts and what became accepted as truth in the 1900's when Ninja started to play role in numerous pulp fiction and (quasi)historical works.

Author gives a very clear picture of elite, highly trained warrior clans/families of Japan's turbulent past and how term Ninja - and concept that has very little to do with historical facts but much more with fantasy fiction - by which we know Ninja today - did not appear until late 19th and into 20th century.

What did irritate me a a little is slight apologetic context especially at the start of the book where Mr. Turnbull says he made mistakes in his previous works and unintentionally helped further the [historically untrue] view of the Ninja.

We are talking about something that was part of warfare in medieval Japan - of course not everything is in the historical records and of course they get distorted with times but that is why it is important to write on the subject and this is something Mr. Turnbull did at all times - investigation, exploration of available [accent on this] texts and writing books on the subject. This is area of one nations culture where everything was always kept in-house, transmitted from master to apprentice in direct form without writing everything [or in some cases anything] down in order to keep the clan/family safe and their business/trade secure in future. Same can be said of any guild where they have trade secrets of sorts - e.g. in Europe this would apply to glass and porcelain manufacturers.

If anybody has any criticism of Mr. Turnbull's work (s)he can write and publish their own work on the subject and provide detailed information. This type of counter-argument is productive. Counter-productive is when counter-argument is provided via various blogs and other sites where internet in general is prime source of information (which unfortunately is not so good idea because you can find a lot of stuff that just does not have anything to do with historical facts).

Author shows how myths are made - starting from the point where basic elements are in (those that are based in real world facts) and then use of magic and wizardry puts the myth more and more into domain of fantasy.

Highly recommended. If you are interested in Japan's military history I wholeheartedly recommend works by Stephen Turnbull and books by Karl F. Friday.
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  Zare | Jan 23, 2024 |
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The Ninja were the secret agents and assassins of feudal Japan and they remain a subject of enduring fascination. They first emerged during the power struggles of 9th and 10th century Japan, in response to the increasing demand for spies, informants and even assassins, and they were used until the mid-1600s when they disappeared on account of a campaign to destroy them. This title provides an accurate and detailed account of the reality of the Ninja, detailing their daily life, training, hiring, combat use and secret operations; also covered are the Ninja's use and knowledge of poisons, medicines and charms.

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Osprey Publishing

An edition of this book was published by Osprey Publishing.

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