For many centuries, samurai warriors had an absolute monopoly on the bearing of arms in Japan, and epitomised the ideas of patriotism and devotion to military duty. They were an entire and separate class in society, and followed a special code known as bushido, a philosophical foundation for a 'freedom from fear' which was carried through into the design, production, decoration, wearing and use of the samurai armour and weapons. This wonderfully illustrated book contains spectacular colour photographs of the most important samurai weapons of all - various types of long and short swords (which differed significantly from Western swords), and the particular component parts of them - and the forms of head and body armour designed specifically for samurai versus samurai combat. Many other weapons are featured too, including bows and arrows, deadly long pikes, as well as 'special forces' weapons used specifically by infiltrators.
Used availability for Clive Sinclair's Samurai