false 2101667 12 This is a modern epic, a heart-breaking love story and an unforgettable journey of the spirit. It is a powerful historical novel based on the remarkable life of the man who inspired Madame Butterfly. It is a mass market paperback of the acclaimed novel for summer reading 2007. It is backed by a high profile advertising campaign including "Sunday Times", "Daily Mail", "Metro" and "Daily Telegraph." The year is 1858. Thomas Glover is a gutsy eighteen-year-old who grasps the chance of escape to foreign lands and takes a posting as a trader in Japan. Within ten years, he amasses a great fortune, learns the ways of the samurai, and, on the other side of the law, brings about the overthrow of the Shogun. Yet beneath Glover's astonishing success lies a man cut to the heart. His love affair with a courtesan - a woman who, unknown to him, would bear him the son for which he had always longed - would form a tragedy so dramatic as to be immortalised in the stories behind Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon. "The Pure Land" relives in fiction the arc of Glover's true-life rise and fall, and forges a hundred-year saga that culminates in the annihilation of Nagasaki in 1945. 2107031 1998 The Pure Land total:65|5:13|4:25|3:17|2:6|1:4| 65 232 116 17 5 2 false false Sat Jun 28 06:31:19 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 11 02:52:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Dec 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Oct 15 17:38:50 -0700 2008 Sun Dec 14 14:22:51 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 04 10:02:33 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 10:02:33 -0700 2008
The Pure Land follows the life of Thomas Glover, a Scottish expatriot to Japan in the late 1850s who literally funded a revolution. We are with Glover when he first decides to travel so far from home in a tiny northern Scottish village and seek his fortune...more...]]> 4 0 true false Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 16:50:28 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 08:13:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 15:05:15 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 10:29:13 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Apr 18 09:22:38 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 30 16:26:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 04:47:53 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 06:40:28 -0700 2007 Thomas Glover's experiences in Japan. He was instrumental in bringing down the Shogun and modernising Japan in the 19th century. His personal relationship was also rumoured to be an influence on Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Thomas Glover is ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 12:36:57 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 13:07:29 -0700 2008 Definitely worth the read if you have an interest in Japanese culture ...more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 08 09:02:43 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 09:06:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 08 20:01:55 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 08 20:06:05 -0700 2008 a historical telling of a true story with a little romance added for spice, & it's set in Japan! What more could I ask for in a book?

It's also well written, so that helps of course. I'm burning through this book like I haven't burned t...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Jun 02 12:45:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 02 12:47:40 -0700 2008 Also was enlightened on "Mitsubishi"]]> 2 0 false false Fri Mar 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 14 09:04:22 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 14 09:04:27 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 08:48:27 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 08:58:53 -0700 2008 ]]> 0 0 false false Thu Apr 10 12:31:32 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 10:40:28 -0700 2008 Madama Butterfly and Miss Saigon. ]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 18:55:04 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 18:55:25 -0700 2008 ]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 15 17:45:29 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 05 10:36:07 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jan 03 08:51:37 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 08 11:15:32 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 22 04:54:49 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 04:54:55 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 07 07:10:02 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 07:10:02 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Nov 01 05:41:34 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 05:41:39 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2101667