Michael Wert is Associate Professor of East Asian History at Marquette University. Specializing in early modern and modern Japan, he is the author of Meiji Restoration Losers: Memory and Tokugawa Supporters in Modern Japan.
The term samurai brings to mind disciplined, well-trained warrior-soldiers, skillfully wielding swords and following a strict military-ethical code of honor and sacrifice. Michael Wert, an associate professor at Marquette University who specializes in Japanese history, seeks to dispel this popular depiction in his fascinating short history of the samurai. * Francis P Sempa * In this myth-busting race through 1,100 years of samurai history, Wert reveals how the Japanese warrior class not only not only influenced military matters, but also culture, religion, and the arts. * Ellie Cawthorne and Matt Eltom, BBC History Magazine *