Dr Stephen Turnbull: 44 books

In 1543 three Portuguese merchants entered a turbulent Japan, bringing with them the first firearms the Japanese had ever seen: simple matchlock muskets called arquebuses. They proved a decisive addition to the Japanese armoury, as for centuries the samurai had fought only with bow, sword and spear....

In 1614-15 Osaka Castle was Japan's greatest fortification, measuring approximately 2 miles in length with walls 100 feet high. It was guarded by 100,000 samurai, determined to defend the last of the once-powerful Toyotomi clan. The castle was seemingly impenetrable; however, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the...

The landscape of 16thand 17th-century Japan was dominated by the graceful and imposing castles constructed by the powerful 'daimyo' of the period. In this the most turbulent era in Japanese history, these militarily sophisticated structures provided strongholds for the consolidation and control of...

Each great samurai warlord, or daimyo, had a division of troops known as the Hatamoto, 'those who stand under the flag'. The Hatamoto included the personal bodyguards, the senior generals, the standard bearers and colour-guard, the couriers, and the other samurai under the warlord's personal command....

From the 10th century onwards the great Japanese monastic foundations of Nara and Mount Hiei maintained large armies of warlike monks. The tempestuous political rivalries that developed between the different orders of monks and religiously inspired laymen ensured that their temples and monasteries...

The most famous example of fortification in the world, the Great Wall of China stretches for more than 6,000km across inhospitable terrain. Charting its development from its earliest origins in the 7th century BC through to the present day, this account reveals the true history of the wall, and explores...

When Lord Kira brought about the death of Lord Asano, he made Asano's loyal samurai into ronin – masterless warriors. These men secretly plotted their revenge and one snowy winter's night, launched an ambitious raid against their enemy's mansion in Edo. What ensued was the fiercest sword battle...

The samurai were the military elite of medieval and early modern Japan, and the men who led them were hailed as the very greatest, most heroic and most honourable of all samurai warriors. This first of two books examines the lives, equipment, battles and wider roles of the samurai commanders between...

When Portuguese traders took advantage of the constant violence in Japan to sell the Japanese their first firearms, one of the quickest to take advantage of this new technology was the powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga. In 1575 the impetuous Takeda Katsuyori laid siege to Nagashino castle, a possession...

The Sengoku The Jidai, 'Age of Warring States', is the age of the samurai the military aristocracy of Japan. This period, which lasted from the outbreak of the Onin War in 1467 to the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 17th century, was a period of endemic warfare, when a lack of...

The prevalence of particular fortress types in medieval China, Mongolia, Japan and Korea demanded the evolution of different modes of siege warfare in each country. The wealthy walled towns of China, the mountain fortresses of Korea and the military outposts of Japan each presented different challenges...

Fighting Ships of the Far East (1) adds enormously to the hitherto small corpus of knowledge about a fascinating and little known subject. Using detailed descriptions, accurate cutaway plates and reliable historical examples, this book covers the history of Chinese ship design and naval warfare from...

Over the centuries, naval relations between Japan and Korea appear to have alternated between peaceful trade and outright hostility. However, this impression can be misleading, as much of what passed for mercantile activity was in fact conducted by Japanese pirate fleets, who pillaged the coasts of...

The dazzling spectacle presented by the armies of medieval Japan owed much to the highly developed family and personal heraldry of samurai society. From simple personal banners, this evolved over centuries of warfare into a complex system of flags worn or carried into battle, together with the striking...