Help Request on a book

Hello everyone,
I was able to pick up a book fairly cheap, but I 'seem' to remember
that this book was discussed in the group, however I cannot remember
what was written about it, nor can I find post that discuss it.

The name of the book is
"Secrets of the Samurai, The martial Arts of Feudal Japan"
by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook.

Thank you for your help.

1SG Robert B. Munsey
HHC/1-34 ARMOR
FT RILEY, KS
DSN 856-9888

--- In samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com, "SFC Robert B. Munsey"
wrote:

> Hello everyone,
> I was able to pick up a book fairly cheap, but I 'seem' to remember
> that this book was discussed in the group, however I cannot remember
> what was written about it, nor can I find post that discuss it.
>
> The name of the book is
> "Secrets of the Samurai, The martial Arts of Feudal Japan"
> by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook.
>
> Thank you for your help.

I don't remember the discussion, but based solely on the title of the
book, it couldn't have been good.

The book is not that bad. The title is a bit misleading, Luckily it's
not a mystic arts or ninja book more of a long drawn out thesis on
samurai history and weapons. A good beginner book on the samurai but
not one of the greatest books I have ever read.

> I don't remember the discussion, but based solely on the title of the
> book, it couldn't have been good.

SFC Robert B. Munsey wrote:

> I was able to pick up a book fairly cheap, but I 'seem' to remember
> that this book was discussed in the group, however I cannot remember
> what was written about it, nor can I find post that discuss it.
>
> The name of the book is
> "Secrets of the Samurai, The martial Arts of Feudal Japan"
> by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook.

Summary evaluation: don't trust the pictures, and double-check the
contents of the text in other sources before accepting them as facts.

I think it works better as a source of inspiration for fantasy games or
fiction with a pseudo-samurai flavour than as an actual history book.

--
Phil
Men with sharpness of mind are to be found only among those with a
penchant for thought. -- Shiba Yoshimasa