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Summary: Explores the history of the Samurai weapons and culture
Review: Clive Sinclaire's Samurai explores the history of the Samurai weapons and culture in Japan, from the philosophy which epitomized patriotism and military devotion to color photos of the Samurai's weapons and armor. Newcomers to the topic will find a handy glossary of terms and insights on language: plenty of information suitable for understanding Japanese culture in general and samurai in particular.
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Summary: Samurai - The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior
Review: I have been collecting books on both the History of Samurai and their weapons for several years now and this stands as one of the most beautiful books in my collection. Clive Sinclaire is a collector with a wealth of knowledge and this book has been written accordingly. Accompanied by some truly beautiful photographs, this book stands proud in my bookshelf, easily one of the best I have purchased.
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Summary: Samurai The Weapons and Sprit of the Japanese Warrior
Review: I recently received a copy of Samurai The Weapons and Sprit of the Japanese Warrior by Clive Sinclaire. I was pleasantly surprised in that I quickly saw that this book will fill a vacant but important niche in the World of Nihonto collection. The first fifth of the book is general history of the Samurai. The other chapters of the book go into the areas of Japanese armor, swords, polearms, archery and guns. Those chapters are 66 pages long for Nihonto and 8 pages for archery. Each chapter mixes history along with the fundamentals and technical aspects of the subject.
I think that this is an important book for the newcomer to Nihonto or Japanese armor or Japanese matchlocks to have. It will give them a tremendous background in the World of the Samurai. I also feel that many if not most of the Old Time Collectors will benefit from reading it to fill in some of the voids.
This book was published by Salamander Press of London (...) There are 144 pages and over 250 photos (mostly in color). It measures 10 1/2 inches - 36.8 cm. wide X 11 1/4 inches - 38.8 cm tall.
Congratulations on a job well done Clive. I would have never been able to tie such a loosely knit group of subjects together anywhere near as well.
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Summary: Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior
Review: Mr. Sinclaire needs a spell checker for his Japanese terms and names. There are too many mistakes for typos. The history is based on popular Japanese Movie Themes. The book has excellent pictures and graphics. Could have been a good reference book but with all the spelling errors this book will create more misinformed.
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Summary: solid background material with wide appeal
Review: On a first encounter with "Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior," I was so distracted by the vast number of mispelled Japanese names that I made it no further than the fifth page and quickly consigned the book to a remote shelf. For a second encounter, I approached Clive Sinclaire's book determined to overlook both the spelling issues and the relatively weak and inappropriately sentimental first chapter that outlines a history of the Japanese warrior. This time, I jumped straight to chapter two and concentrated instead on the book's strengths.And these strengths are notable. As most customer reviewers have here noted, the book provides outstanding introductory material on various classes of Japanese weapons as well as traditional armor. A combination of photographed artifacts, annotated line drawings, and excellent captions make learning from this book particularly easy. Edo-period woodblock prints, moreover, are used to good effect in showing the weapons as they were used in premodern times. Needless to say, the primary appeal of Sinclaire's book will be to that large body of people who enthusiastically study Japanese martial arts and military history. However, "Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior" also merits a place on the bookshelf of anyone generally interested in Japanese culture or more specifically tasked, for example, with decoding the military activities depicted in Japanese art.
Rating:
Summary: solid background material with wide appeal
Review: On a first encounter with "Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior," I was so distracted by the vast number of mispelled Japanese names that I made it no further than the fifth page and quickly consigned the book to a remote shelf. For a second encounter, I approached Clive Sinclaire's book determined to overlook both the spelling issues and the relatively weak and inappropriately sentimental first chapter that outlines a history of the Japanese warrior. This time, I jumped straight to chapter two and concentrated instead on the book's strengths. And these strengths are notable. As most customer reviewers have here noted, the book provides outstanding introductory material on various classes of Japanese weapons as well as traditional armor. A combination of photographed artifacts, annotated line drawings, and excellent captions make learning from this book particularly easy. Edo-period woodblock prints, moreover, are used to good effect in showing the weapons as they were used in premodern times. Needless to say, the primary appeal of Sinclaire's book will be to that large body of people who enthusiastically study Japanese martial arts and military history. However, "Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior" also merits a place on the bookshelf of anyone generally interested in Japanese culture or more specifically tasked, for example, with decoding the military activities depicted in Japanese art.
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Summary: Samurai : The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior
Review: Simply put: Bravo!! The dedication and love are obvious in this
work. The book is also quite a bargain at the stated price of $20.00; I believe that this was done to further promote the arts at the author's sacrifice. Bravo!!
Rating:
Summary: Samurai : The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior
Review: Simply put: Bravo!! The dedication and love are obvious in this
work. The book is also quite a bargain at the stated price of $20.00; I believe that this was done to further promote the arts at the author's sacrifice. Bravo!!
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Summary: Clive Sinclaire on the Samurai
Review: This book should possibly be titled "Clive Sinclaire on the Samurai" as it is an all inclusive discussion on many aspects of the Samurai. Included in this excellent book are a discussion of what a Samurai really was, including the traditions associated with such a warrior. The book also discusses the various weapons he would have normally used, and also the armor he used. The text is easily readable and understandable, the illustrations, the majority in color, are large and clear. This is a "coffee table" sized book, which unlike most "coffee table" books provides succinct knowledge for the most serious collector of Nihon-to and artifacts normally associated with the Samurai. Mr. Sinclaire's knowledge of the subject is beyond reproach, and I found this book enlightening and wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Clive Sinclaire on the Samurai
Review: This book should possibly be titled "Clive Sinclaire on the Samurai" as it is an all inclusive discussion on many aspects of the Samurai. Included in this excellent book are a discussion of what a Samurai really was, including the traditions associated with such a warrior. The book also discusses the various weapons he would have normally used, and also the armor he used. The text is easily readable and understandable, the illustrations, the majority in color, are large and clear. This is a "coffee table" sized book, which unlike most "coffee table" books provides succinct knowledge for the most serious collector of Nihon-to and artifacts normally associated with the Samurai. Mr. Sinclaire's knowledge of the subject is beyond reproach, and I found this book enlightening and wonderful.
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