Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Through the Eyes of the Shogun's Last Samurai Hardcover – October 22, 2013

Being deeply passionate about Japanese history pre and post Meiji eras, I've been reading all sorts of literature about Japan for the past 30 years.'Samurai Revolution' is by far the best History book about the transition period from Sengoku / Shogunate to Meiji / Empire that I've ever read.The writing is often difficult to read - probably because some terms are hard to translate: overall it feels like I'm reading a book written in the early 1900's. Apart from that, the book is rich in sources and excellent historical and societal analysis about the period it covers.Asia is an extremely complicated region, and not only because of its past and present relationship with the Western world: the fact is, there's very little literature available because most has never been / is not translated.This is the sort of book one interested in geopolitics must read to understand the psyche of Japan then and now. To a certain extent, reading it today also gives a clearer view of the why's and how's of Japan's boom between 1945 and 1989 that preceded the current Lost Score era (last 20+ years).

For someone who has been unforgivably not familiar with Japanese history, and most notably, the Samurai Era in mid-19th Century Japan, Samurai Revolution has opened my eyes to what transpired during that era. Romulus Hillsborough's more than in-depth research, passion for Japanese history, and understanding of Japanese culture, has translated into much more than just an accounting of what transformed feudal and agrarian Japan into an Industrial and Imperial empire in the 20th Century. That would simply be a history book. This is a very entertaining and elaborate piece, written from the frame of reference of its main character, Samurai Katsu Kaishu, along with other important Characters. The Book intertwines highly researched events into a storyline, told mainly through the eyes and emotions of these Characters. This made reading the Book a pleasure. I was especially taken aback by how much of a self-protected society Japan was, and the transformational events that changed the Country forever. I was well motivated to re-read what I had to in order to fully understand all Characters and events. Well done Romulus Hillsborough!J.D.D.

I did not know what to expect from this work, as my area of interest is small when it comes to post shogun-era Japan. The work is wide-ranging and poignant. It is not often that the imagination of an entire culture can become so wonderfully brought to life.

I have read everything I could find on Japanese History that is scholarly and translated to English. This is a gem!

As usual, Mr. Hillsborough's book is well written and informative. Translations are well written and easy to understand. Heavily cited references are a plus.

Good read.

lots of historical information. worth the read if you are a history buff

In Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Seen Through the Eyes of the Shogun's Last Samurai, Mr. Hillsborough does a very good job of presenting the twists and turns of the Bakumatsu period, making it easily digestible for readers with a basic knowledge of this turbulent period of Japanese history. Hillsborough's efforts make up for many of the deficiencies that plagued his earlier works and pleasantly surprised this reviewer. This book is certainly less hyperbolic and definitely more scholarly when compared to Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps and Samurai Tales. Hillsborough's efforts do deserve to be commended and I would say that this is probably the second best book in English that covers the complete Bakumatsu period. The best book on the topic, in my opinion, still continues to be M. Beasley's The Meiji Restoration. However, Mr. Hillsborough's Samurai Revolution is definitely worth a read for anyone with an interest in Japanese history and especially the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. This book is also valuable in that it gives good insight into how Katsu Kaishū, the shogun's "last samurai" referred to in the book's title, perceived events and the major players of the period. No translations of Kaishū's own writings or the transcriptions of the detailed interviews with him exist in English, so this is a rewarding treat, as the man is without a doubt, one of the more fascinating figures who shaped this period of Japanese history.While I would rate this book a solid 4 out of 5, I do have some quibbles and I think they are important. Firstly, the title: Samurai Revolution-- is the Meiji 'Restoration' truly a revolution, restoration or a coup? The Meiji regime's leaders wanted their country's populace and the world to believe that it was a restoration of imperial rule, but it most certainly wasn't. Although the emperor's status was raised within social, political and religious circles, it was not the emperor, but rather those from the Satsuma-Chōshū clique which held the true reins of power. While some revolutionary things did take place during the Meiji period, the change of power in 1867-68 was nothing but a coup that exchanged the existing authoritarian regime with a different one.Secondly, for all the sources listed in the bibliography, it seems there was an over-reliance on just a small number of them, as evident in the footnotes (should be noted that overall, the footnotes were quite interesting and useful). Also, it seems that Mr. Hillsborough still struggles at times to keep a neutral and unbiased view of events. These biases come out in his choice of diction as well as how he paints certain people and incidents in the same sort of hue that the winners of the Meiji Coup wanted the Japanese public to "see". He also truly seems to have trouble suppressing admiration for numerous samurai, such as Saigō Takamori, who helped orchestrate the Meiji coup and establish the militaristic and imperialist oligopoly that took power upon the demise of the Tokugawa and then white washing certain views and decisions.Lastly, Hillsborough, while he does take time to explore the very plausible and interesting theory that the Emperor Kōmei was assassinated to help pave the way for the Meiji Coup completely ignores other conjecture that has been popping up over the last few decades that Saigō may have had a hand in the assassination of Sakamoto Ryōma. As it is clear that Mr. Hillsborough does hold both of these men in high esteem, it was disappointing to see that this theory was not covered-- perhaps as it would have cast Saigō in a negative light?If Mr. Hillsborough's biases could have been held in check better in order to give readers a better balanced view of this fascinating and violent era in Japanese history, I would have given Samurai Revolution five stars. It is my hope that we will see more deep dives into Japanese history and the Bakumatsu period from the new and improved Romulus Hillsborough in the future-- but with more neutrality.

I really wanted an overview of the Meiji Restoration and this largely did the trick. Books on this era of history are rare, so can forgive some imperfections.

Far too compact , brevity doesn’t lead to clarity but to confusion.Like War and Peace , characters disappear only to reappear further on in the story. The narrative is jerky and doesn’t flow . It should have been edited more stringently before publication.

Sans mentir, l'auteur m'a scotché. Son travail de recherche est impressionnant. Si vous êtes passionné par cette période charnière de la formation du Japon moderne, ce livre est un must pour vous. Il fourmille de détails, de dates, de témoignages. Génial.

自分が生まれる百年ほど前が明治維新多くの英雄が生まれそして死んだ日本が日本としてあるのは先人たちのおかげそのことを忘れまやかしの幸せに目をくらませていたら、未来は暗い覚醒せよ　日本人