Survey of Stephen Turnbull Samurai Texts
My reading theme for March 2021 included books by Dr. Stephen Turnbull about Samurai and closely related topics in Japanese history. These are a few thoughts on the titles that I (Richard) read. Introduction Dr. Turnbull is the most prolific author I have encountered while researching reputable martial arts books. He earned his PhD from Leeds University in 1996, with his thesis addressing Japan's Kakure Kirishitan , or "hidden Christian" communities. I first encountered his work in the form of his excellent 2018 book Ninja: Unmasking the Myth , which I reviewed for Martial Journal . This post will include two main sections. The first part offers a deeper look at 4 of Dr. Turnbull's books. They are pictured at the top of the post. The second part lists 27 books that I briefly reviewed. I will make a comment on each. I previewed these titles in a series of social media posts using the hash tag #StephenTurnbull. Each features art samples from the books. You can se