Titre : History of the samurai
Auteur.ice : Pierre-François Souyri
Edit: Flammarion
Publication date: Mars 2024
Genre of the book: History
Object of all fantasies and various interpretations, protagonist in cinema but also in novels or manga, the samurai has become an icon of Japanese pop culture and bushido – the code of conduct of this one – a pseudo warrior philosophy often poorly interpreted. Reason why reading the work of Pierre-François Souyri, History of the samurai is worth the detour, as it sweeps away misconceptions about these warriors while offering us a useful overview of the history of Japan in the last millennium.
Thus, by beginning our adventure in the Middle Ages, we discover who these men were in the service of the imperial court then the great lords, how the political landscape was fragmented and vassalized and how the morals of these warriors were far from of the idealized image that most people have of it. Because if certain periods in the history of Japan were marked by a very high degree of violence and a very relative loyalty of the samurai towards their masters on the one hand, we often forget on the other hand that many of these were great literate and excellent managers.
By evoking the history of the samurai, Pierre-François Souyri also describes the political history of Japan, the imperial period around the first millennium, the feudal period and the troubles that followed it, the shogunate which extended over several centuries and the imperial restoration of the 1860s with the social downgrading that it caused for many warriors but also the way in which some of them moved to the political and intellectual avant-gardes to assume high political or administrative positions many years after the fall of the shogunate.
Even if the tone remains academic and will not suit a part of the public who might have been interested in this work, the History of the samurai is a fascinating book that will enlighten readers about Japan in general and demystify the biased image they have of the samurai.
