Battleship Yamato

Of War, Beauty and Irony

Jan Morris

$37.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Pallas Athene
01 June 2025

True war & combat stories; History; History: specific events & topics; Naval forces & warfare

Series: Jan Morris

In grand ironic elegy, Jan Morris tells the story of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Yamato, most powerful warship of World War II and climax of the samurai tradition.

The Battleship Yamato, of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was the most powerful warship of World War II and represented the climax, as it were, of the Japanese warrior traditions of the samurai the ideals of honour, discipline and self-sacrifice that had immemorially ennobled the Japanese national consciousness. Stoically poised for battle in the spring of 1945 when even Japan's last desperate technique of arms, the kamikaze, was running short Yamato arose as the last magnificent arrow in the imperial quiver of Emperor Hirohito.

Here, Jan Morris not only tells the dramatic story of the magnificent ship itself from secret wartime launch to futile sacrifice at Okinawa but, more fundamentally, interprets the ship as an allegorical figure of war itself, in its splendour and its squalor, its heroism and its waste. Drawing on rich naval history and rhapsodic metaphors from international music and art, Battleship Yamato is a work of grand ironic elegy.

The short, illustrated book Morris has written about the Yamato is what she calls 'a reverie' on the varied emotions that war summons upI think it's safe to say that Morris has also written a reverie on accepting the inevitability of death This book itself signals yet another end: Certainly, it will be one of the very last books written about World War II by an author who saw active service in that war. That sobering fact only adds to the elegiac resonance of this magnificent little book. - Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air.

Published to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the sinking of Yamato (7 April 2025).

AUTHOR: Jan Morris (19262020) served in the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers in World War II. The author of such classics as the Pax Britannia trilogy and Conundrum, she lived in Wales and kept a replica of the Yamato on her desk. Her book Ciao, Carpaccio! An Infatuation is also available from Pallas Athene.

SELLING POINTS: .

Published to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Yamato's sinking .

An extraordinary reflection on the meaning of war by one of the finest writers and historians of the 20th century .

Strikingly illustrated .

With useful diagrams, facts and figures

55 colour illustrations

By: Jan Morris
Imprint: Pallas Athene
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 135mm, Width: 195mm,
Weight: 110g
ISBN: 9781843682691
ISBN 10: 1843682699
Series: Jan Morris
Pages: 112
Publication Date: 01 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

Explanatory 7 Prologue 15 Tiger on a Leash 23 Line of Succession 31 For the Next Day’s War 43 Halfway There 59 Beyond Armageddon 71 Valedictory 93 Thanks 99 IJN Yamato 100 Yamato Action 5-7 April 103 Picture credits 108

Jan Morris (1926–2020) served in the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers in World War II. The author of such classics as the Pax Britannia trilogy and Conundrum, she lived in Wales and kept a replica of the Yamato on her desk. Her book Ciao, Carpaccio! An Infatuation is also available from Pallas Athene.

LATEST SALES & OFFERS: PROMOTIONS

Battleship Yamato

Of War, Beauty and Irony

Jan Morris

$37.99

Hardback

See Also

Contact Abbeys

Contact Galaxy

Contact Language

Contact Us

About ABBEY'S