DanielL answers “Might the readers enjoy this essay on the...”

Lance asked this question about Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1):

Might the readers enjoy this essay on the historical accuracy of the book as a complement? http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/Learning_from_shogun_txt.pdf

DanielL Lance - Thank you for posting the link to “Learning from Shogun”. If others haven’t read it, eight academic scholars of Japanese history, culture, lan…moreLance - Thank you for posting the link to “Learning from Shogun”. If others haven’t read it, eight academic scholars of Japanese history, culture, language, and literature contributed individual essays to a paper entitled “Learning from Shogun.” The scholars point out the “Western fantasy” of Shogun versus reality; but the fantasy was based on actual events and individuals, e.g., Blackthorne was based on William Adams; Mariko was based on Hosokawa Gracia; Toranaga was based on Tokugawa Ieyasu; Buntaro was based on Hosokawa Tadaoki, etc. The scholars agree that “Shogun” is basically a Western romance fantasy and facts are embellished, but overall, they seem to agree that as a historical fiction, Shogun is a fairly accurate depiction of feudal Japan in the 1600.

The one thing that I didn’t realize until I read “Learning from Shogun” was all the events in the novel “Shogun” took place over a 6-8 month period. Given the length of the novel, I thought it covered several years. (less)

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