--- In
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com, "david a. sigler"
timberwolf@c...> wrote:
> Has anyone read the following two books and were they any good?
> "The Last Shogun; the Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu" By Ryotaro Shiba,
> and "The Last Samurai; the Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori," By
> Mark Ravina.
> david a sigler
I have both books. I haven't read 'The Last Shogun' yet (right now
i'm reading "A History of Japan, 1615-1867") but "The Last Samurai"
is an excellent book. It describes Saigo Takamori's life and the War
of the Southwest (also known as the Satsuma Rebellion). It's
interesting to note that Saigo used several names when corresponding
with other people. One of the names Saigo Takamori used when writing
poetry was 'Saigo Nanshû' which means Saigo of the South. With
this name Saigo refers to the Southern Court (Go-Daigo's Southern
line). Torn between truly unifying (under the Emperor) and
modernizing Japan and his loyalty towards the ideals of the samurai
class and his Lord Shimazu, Saigo's life was interesting indeed.
Nahless
P.S. Should you have specific questions about this book, just let me
know.