Customer Reviews

A very different culture
Milton writes well and makes little known history come alive. In this case it is the European exploration of the Far East for trade with the first Englishman, William Adams, in Japan during the early 17th century. Japan was a mixture of an advanced civilisation combined with cruel brutality They were held back by their inability to build ocean going ships.. When Adams arrived, his European earlier arrivals, Portuguese Jesuits, wanted him crucified lest his Protestant heresy infect the country. Adams proved a suvivor becoming a trusted advisor of the Japanese leader. He was able to aid the British traders of the East India Company who came later. H has them spared from the terrible persecution of the Catholics which cane as Japan reacted against foreign influence. British traders were also in conflict with the Dutch. Most traders were sexually immoral, often given to drink and self interest. Adams stood out as the one man to be really accepted by Japan. This is a great account of brave mariners and a strange country.

The life and times of William Adams
A gripping, well-written account of Willaim Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan, and the short-lived attempt by the English to expand its burgeoning Empire to this most unique country. Milton does and excellent job of piecing together the various extent contemporary accounts--including those left behind by Adams himself--into a facinating story. One will be disappointed, however, if one expects this to be a detailed account of Williams Adams himself--as far as I know, an impossibility given the amount of material that he left behind. A considerable amount of the narrative deals with trade in East Asia, the workings of the Jesuits in Japan, and the English factory established at Hirado.

Another great historic adventure
'Samurai Williams' follows Giles Milton's already successful formula of retelling the story of some of histories overlooked and forgotten characters and heroes. Here he tells the story of the first Englishman to reach Japan and the failed attempt of the East Indies Trading Company to successfully establish a trading factory there.

Following reports from Portuguese explorers of a civilised nation with an abundance of silver at the edges of the known world, far away to the East, many wealthy businessman and eager adventurers in London became very excited. For, not only was Japan was so rich that the Japanese traded goods for vast quantities of silver without bartering, but they were reportedly a very civilised and polite people, plus the Japanese climate was cold which would be perfect for British wool and broadcloth. This was in stark contrast to the African tribesman and the barbarous South Americans, who were more likely to perform cannibalism than enter into trade with you. And even if you could establish a trade link, the African and East Indian climate was deadly, being heavy with mosquitoes and malaria. Along with the Spice Islands, Japan was seen has having the potential for massive profits for the competing European super powers of England, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

It was aboard a fleet of five ships that William Adams, a sailor and carpenter from the poor area of Limehouse outside London, set off from Rotterdam in 1598 on a trading mission to the Spice Islands and then possibly on to Japan. Heavily armed, the fleet travelled via South America fuelling rumours that they were really trying to emulate Drakes earlier voyage around the world whilst pillaging Spanish settlements in South America for their massive gold reserves. The fleets' cargo of woollen trading goods was also thought to be more suitable for the cold Japanese climate and certainly not for the warm climate of the East Indies.

However, only one of the fleet's ships actually survived the voyage to Japan, and even though its crew were barely alive and the fact that the Portuguese priests that were already in Japan tried, unsuccessfully, to have their English and Dutch rivals executed, William Adams miraculously established himself as a vital confidant and advisor to the Japanese Shogun. He ensured that the Portuguese and Catholic power was quickly reduced within Japan and that the British and Dutch could flourish. When news of Adams power reached London, the East Indies Trading Company sent another crew to Japan with the blessing of King James I with the aim establishing a successful and profitable trade agreement. However, it would be these traders, with their love of the Japanese good life and their over eagerness for personal profit that would eventually lead to its complete failure and an extended period of Japanese isolation from the outside world.

In Samurai William, Giles Milton brilliantly retells of the harsh realities that these European adventurers and missionaries faced living far away from home in a civilised land with an alien and sometimes barbaric culture. He enlivens his prose with snippets of information and humour from their dairies and letters, ensuring that like his previous books, Samurai Williams is an accessible and entertaining read. As such, this book comes highly recommended.