Search Results: Returned 3 Results, Displaying Titles 1 - 3
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2023., Adult, Scribner Canada Call No: NEW BLK Fic Shr Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: In 1579, a Portuguese trade ship sails into port at Kuchinotsu, Japan, loaded with European wares and weapons. On board is Father Alessandro Valignano, an Italian priest and Jesuit missionary whose authority in central and east Asia is second only to the pope's. Beside him is his protector, a large and imposing East African man. Taken from his village as a boy, sold as a slave to Portuguese mercenaries, and forced to fight in wars in India, the young but experienced soldier is haunted by memories of his past. From Kuchinotsu, Father Valignano leads an expedition pushing inland toward the capital city of Kyoto. A riot brings his protector in front of the land's most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga is preparing a campaign to complete the unification of a nation that's been torn apart by over one hundred years of civil war. In exchange for permission to build a church, Valignano "gifts" his protector to Nobunaga, and the young East African man is reminded once again that he is less of a human and more of a thing to be traded and sold. After pledging his allegiance to the Japanese warlord, the two men from vastly different worlds develop a trust and respect for one another. The young soldier is granted the role of samurai, a title that has never been given to a foreigner; he is also given a new name: Yasuke. Not all are happy with Yasuke's ascension. There are whispers that he may soon be given his own fief, his own servants, his own samurai to command. But all of his dreams hinge on his ability to protect his new lord from threats both military and political, and from enemies both without and within. A magnificent reconstruction and moving study of a lost historical figure, The African Samurai is an enthralling narrative about the tensions between the East and the West and the making of modern Japan, from which rises the most unlikely hero.
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c2013., Adult, Doubleday Canada Call No: Fic Kir Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "Japan in the late sixteenth century was a land in turmoil. Lords of the great clans constantly jockeyed for position, generating countless tales of scheming and intrigue. Bound by a rigid code of honor, the aristocratic samurai were left to execute their lords' designs whatever the cost. Death defined these warriors' very existence; they could be commanded to die by their lord at any time to prove loyalty and strength of spirit. A dishonorable end would bring shame upon an entire family--for generations to come"--Dust jacket.
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-- Hours of the dog2015., Adult, Doubleday Call No: Fic Kir Edition: 1st American ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: In the epic historical novel Sword of Honor, David Kirk continues the saga of Musashi Miyamoto, the greatest samurai in Japanese history, as he journeys to the ancient city of Kyoto to fight for his life and his ideals. Having survived the cataclysmic battle of Sekigahara, which established the mighty Tokugawa Shogunate, young Musashi Miyamoto travels through Japan determined to proclaim his revolutionary epiphany that the "way of the sword," the ancient code that binds samurai to their masters, needs to be abolished. But during the battle Musashi insulted an adept of the powerful Yoshioka School, and a price has been put on his head. Musashi travels to Kyoto, domain of the Yoshioka, for a reckoning. He has taken up with Ameku, a beautiful blind woman branded as a witch; his burgeoning love for her will make him vulnerable. Mushashi intends to deal a crushing blow to the traditional samurai dogma by destroying the Yoshioka warriors, but Musashi will learn that his spectacular gifts with the sword are no match for the cunning of powerful lords. The wily Tokugawa governor, still struggling to establish dominance in Kyoto, sees in Musashi just the weapon he needs to overcome the rebellious Yoshioka.
