In the service of the shogun : the real story of William Adams
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Bibliographic Information
In the service of the shogun : the real story of William Adams
Reaktion Books, 2024
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Note
Notes on sources: p.217-220
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In 1600, English helmsman William Adams washed ashore in Japan, and was interrogated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan’s most powerful warlord and soon-to-be shogun. Far from executing Adams as a pirate, Ieyasu made him one of his most trusted advisers. This biography traces Adams’s rise from humble pilot to a position of immense influence in Japan’s foreign relations. It unravels the subsequent diplomatic manoeuvres of the Western powers in the shogun’s empire, and Adams’s eventual downfall.
This is the first full biography of Adams based on original Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese sources, and includes much previously unknown information. Frederik Cryns tells the authentic story of Adams’s chequered life in its historical context, taking us on a compelling journey into Adams’s complex inner feelings and cosmopolitan heart.
Table of Contents
Note on Dates and Translations
Preface
Chapter 1 Adams’s Early Life
Chapter 2 The Disastrous Voyage of the Liefde
Chapter 3 Winning the Shogun’s Favour
Chapter 4 Shaping Ieyasu’s Foreign Policy
Chapter 5 The Coming of the English
Chapter 6 Waning Influence
Note on Sources
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"