Title: Shōgun
First published: 1975
Description: After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed.

Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read--you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.
Subjects: Fiction, Historical fiction, History, Spanish language books, Fiction in English, Warlords, Adventure ficiton, Samurai, British in Japan, Catholic Church, Japan, fiction, Fiction, historical, general, Feudal Japan, Shoguns, Shogunate, Politics, Intrigue, Cultural relations, Adapted for Television, Media Tie-In, Japan, Jesuits, Missionaries, Seppuku, Daimyo, Hatamoto, Honor, Loyalty, Bushido, Cultural Assimilation, Forbidden Love, Romance, Battles, War
Places: Japan, Anjiro, Osaka, Kyoto, Edo, Izu, Sekigahara, Kyushu
People: John Blackthorne (Miura Anjin - William Adams), Yoshi Toranaga (Tokugawa Ieyasu), Yoshi Sudara (Tokugawa Hidetada), Yoshi Naga (Matsudaira Tadayoshi), Ishido Kazunari (Ishida Mitsunari), Ochiba (Yodo-dono), Nakamura Yaemon (Toyotomi Hideyori), Onoshi (Otani Yoshitsugu), Harima (Arima Harunobu), Kiyama (Konishi Yukinaga), Sugiyama (Maeda Toshiie), Zataki (Matsudaira Sadakatsu), Toda Mariko (Hosokawa Gracia), Toda Hiro-matsu (Hosokawa Fujitaka), Toda Buntaro (Hosokawa Tadaoki), Toda Saruji (Hosokawa Tadatoshi), Kasigi Yabu (Honda Masanobu), Kasigi Omi (Honda Masazumi), Goroda (Oda Nobunaga), Taiko Nakamura (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), Akechi Jinsai (Akechi Mitsuhide), Genjiko (Oeyo), Martin Alvito (João Rodrigues), Johann Vinck (Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn), Spillbergen (Jacob Quaeckernaeck), Carlo dell'Aqua (Alessandro Valignano), Michael (Miguel Chijiwa), Ferriera
Time periods: Tokugawa period, 1600-1868, Edo period, 1600-1868, Azuchi-Momoyama period, 1568-1600, 1600