Summary
The classic epic novel of feudal Japan that captured the heart of a culture and the imagination of the world, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell
After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed.
Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read--you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.
Screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist, James Clavell, was born on October 10, 1924, in Sydney, Australia. Clavell's full name was Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle.
Though he wrote screenplays for such highly-acclaimed films as The Fly, The Great Escape, and To Sir With Love, Clavell is best known for his best-selling, grand novels. The novels, which are set in the Far East, include King Rat, Tai-pan, Shogun, Noble House, and Gai-Jin. Remarkable for their scrupulous attention to cultural detail and their innovative plots, Clavell's work has been compared to that of Charles Dickens.
Clavell died on September 7, 1994, at the age of 69.
(Bowker Author Biography)