books(novels) about sengoku or whatever related

[Vlad The Impaler]

u know books about that period?
i only read Eiji Yoshikawa's : Taiko and Musashi and other novells by James Clavell : Shogun and Gaijin
do ya know more ?

[Yoritomo78]

Being a little picky here, but Taiko was set in the end of what is called the Muromachi-Azuchi period. The Sengoku Jidai period is the period after this.

As to other titles? I am currently reading the 47 Ronin, which is not exactly in the same period (set in Edo)I am not sure of the author, but if you want me to get it I can.

I have heard the chronicles of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi are good reading as well, but again I would not know where to get them.

Any more great titles are out there I'm sure, but im limited to what my store in Perth here sells and that aint much

[CEWest]

Well, if I can be picky myself, the Azuchi-Momoyama period falls in the dead center of the Sengoku jidai... The 'sengoku' isn't a clearly defined 'era', just a term for the period that falls roughly (very roughly) between the 1470's (end of the Onin war) and somewhere between the 1590's (Hideyoshi's 'unification'), 1600 (sekigahara), 1603 (ieyasu as shogun) or 1615 (the fall of osaka castle) depending on who you ask.

[Ii Naomasa]

It's unfortunately become obscure, despite being a recently written book, but I've more than once applauded Genpei by Kara Dalkey and have won a few converts here at the dojo.

It's not about the Sengoku period, but this smoothly written retelling of the rise and fall of the Taira clan during the twelfth century gives you a good feel for the world that world that molded the samurai of the Sengoku era.

The end of the Heian period saw the emperor and the aristocracy's power eroding and the provincial warrior governors becoming a more dominant force. It would be Minamoto Yoritomo (and, later, the Hojo regents who usurped power from his heirs) who established the warrior class as the true leadership in Japan. Genpei gives you a glimpse of the events that lead to Yoritomo's rise to power a century before the events in the Mongol Invasion.

A more complete version of the story would be the original 'Tale of Heike', but that's not easy to come by and isn't as easy to read as Ms. Dalkey's modern version and I'd recommend the latter for the more casual reader.

[Yagyu Jubei]

If you would like to delve more into the mind of the samurai of the time I would suggest.
"Go Rin No Sho"- or the "Book of Five Rings".
Here is a link to an online translation. http://www.samurai.com/5rings/
I would also suggest.....
"The Sword and The Mind" by they Yagyu Munenori and others as well as....
"The Unfettered Mind"......by Takuan Soho....
Since you are aware of Yoshikawa's work, you should know about these people.
Just remember that these aren't fiction....They are manuscripts for living and dying by the sword.

[Vlad The Impaler]

thank you very much for suggestion
CEWest what u describe is exactly the period i asking about ; of course is a lot of speak about what exactly means but i prefer the large way of term ;\
Ii Naomasa i remember that i heard somewhere about Genpei ; thanks for suggestion i ll look for it
Yagyu, "Go Rin No Sho" is one of my favourite books and i keep it in my library between Sun Tzu's "Art Of War" and "The Unfettered Mind" by Takuan; i practice martial arts since i was 15 ( about 10 years )and i read that books many times http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif
I didnt read "The Sword and The Mind" since it doesnt exist an romanian edition and i prefer to have the source in kinda manuscript than for an internet source; Gutenberg amaze me http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif
i was just askin about literature; i was lookin some books about subject i like just to spend some free time http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

i also i'm interested in some on-line sources about history of clans ; if u have hints...thanks in advance

[MasterSamurai]

Theres a good book called the The Samurai Tale it tells the story of a Samurai,s childhood and how he came up from a servent boy whos father was a samurai of Uesugi anyway he grows up as a servent of Akiyama a samurai master of the Takeda and becomes a samurai and a strong buddist it is set around Takeda Shingen,s death around the end of the book this samurai meets Shingen.Also it goes into the begining of Katsuyori,s.

Its a good book but the thing that sucks about it is that it stops at age 20 and they dont tell about what happened to him.

Theres a sequel but its a whole new story about this old Buddist monk who writes his life story and it is is told in the book about him being a samurai.The guy who writes these books has a Japanese wife and is agood writer.

[Tsunamisan]

If you are looking for factual stuff rather than novels just about anything written by Stephen Turnbull is an excellent read eg.

The Samurai
Samurai Warlords
Samurai Warriors
Ninja
The Samurai Sourcebook
Battles of the Samurai
Samurai Warfare
The Book of the Samurai
Nagashino 1575
Samurai Armies 1550-1615
Ashigaru 1467-1649

[Tsunamisan]

Oh - and for sengoku period contemporary fiction try the translated Tales of the Samurai by J. De Benneville