新史 太閤記（上下） 合本版（新潮文庫）

by Ryōtarō Shiba, 司馬 遼太郎

日本史上、もっとも巧みに人の心を捉えた“人蕩し”の天才、豊臣秀吉。生れながらの猿面を人間的魅力に転じ、見事な演出力で次々に名将たちを統合し、ついに日本六十余州を制覇した英雄の生涯を描く歴史長編。古来、幾多の人々に読みつがれ、日本人の夢とロマンを育んできた物語を、冷徹な史眼と新鮮な感覚によって今日の社会に甦らせたもっとも現代的な太閤記である。　※当電子版は『新史 太閤記』（上）（下）の全二巻をまとめた合本版です。

Genres: Japan

892 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Ryōtarō Shiba (司馬 遼太郎) born Teiichi Fukuda (福田 定一 Fukuda Teiichi, August 7, 1923 – February 12, 1996) in Osaka, Japan, was a Japanese author best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the rest of the world.

Shiba studied Mongolian at the Osaka School of Foreign Languages (now the School of Foreign Studies at Osaka University) and began his career as a journalist with the Sankei Shimbun, one of Japan's major newspapers. After World War II Shiba began writing historical novels. The magazine Shukan Asahi printed Shiba's articles about his travels within Japan in a series that ran for 1,146 installments. Shiba received the Naoki Prize for the 1959 novel Fukuro no Shiro ("The Castle of an Owl"). In 1993 Shiba received the Government's Order of Cultural Merit. Shiba was a prolific author who frequently wrote about the dramatic change Japan went through during the late Edo and early Meiji periods. His most monumental works include Kunitori Monogatari (国盗り物語), Ryoma ga Yuku (竜馬がゆく; see below), Moeyo Ken, and Saka no ue no kumo (坂の上の雲), all of which have spawned dramatizations, most notably Taiga dramas aired in hour-long segments over a full year on NHK television. He also wrote numerous essays that were published in collections, one of which—Kaidō wo Yuku—is a multi-volume journal-like work covering his travels across Japan and around the world. Shiba is widely appreciated for the originality of his analyses of historical events, and many people in Japan have read at least one of his works.

Several of Shiba's works have been translated into English, including his fictionalized biographies of Kukai (Kukai the Universal: Scenes from His Life, 2003) and Tokugawa Yoshinobu (The Last Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 2004), as well as The Tatar Whirlwind: A Novel of Seventeenth-Century East Asia (2007).

(from Wikipedia)

Alternative Names:

Fukuda, Teiichi
Ryotaro, Shiba
Shiba, Ryoutarou
Ryoutarou, Shiba
Sima, Liaotailang
司馬遼太郎
司马辽太郎
Shiba, Rëotaro
Шиба, Рёотаро
司马辽太郎
司馬, 遼太郎
司馬遼太郎
司場遼太郎

Reviews

[Geraud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très bien documenté. Ce long roman est, je pense une bonne introduction à l'histoire du japon l'auteur explique bien l'organisation de la société de l'époque ainsi que certaines habitudes ou détails qui pourraient nous paraître étranges comme le fait que la caste de guerriers, à cette époque était fâchée avec les chiffres. On regrettera parfois ses redites et petites redondances et le côté un peu hagiographique de cette biographie de Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Mais dans l'ensemble c'est bien intéressant.

[Moushine Zahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first novel I've read from Japanese author Ryotaro Shiba. The book falls in the category of history non fiction, but written in the form of a fiction novel with a hint of the author's narration.

There are 3 levels of reading this amazing novel:

- the History part about the 2nd half of the 16th century, when Japan was first united and "pacified" under one ruler. However, I was confused by this info because the story does mention the existence of the Imperial Court. Thus, the author should have written a preface to explain a bit more the previous History of Japan.

- the person of Hideyoshi, who rose from a poor neglected child with no education and no family name/fortune to become the most powerful man in Japan and united the country.

- the changes of the new era needed new people from any origins with new skills, new ideas, and new methods of thinking instead of the traditional people from well born families with identical training and cupid. The battles were won by people applying new methods of war not the regular frontal physical confrontation.

It is a great novel about a unique people in an exceptional era. A reader can be bored by the various battles described, but each one seems different from the next one. The main character, Hideyoshi, a unique personality in the 16th century in Japan, changes and adapts to his new situation each time it requires. The author shows how the changing and exceptional era of that century could have been successful only thanks to a few unique personalities daring to change things radically and achieve the unthinkable against all odds.

[Clovis Bonnat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent roman historique par Shiba Ryotaro qui nous décrit une époque de profonds changements, à travers le portrait de trois personnages fondateurs du Japon moderne (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi et Tokugawa Ieyasu).
Ce livre touche à la versatilité des alliances de l'époque, aux bouleversements tactiques amenés par les techniques de siège occidentales et l'utilisation massive des armes à feu, aux relations ambiguës entre seigneurs féodaux et cour impériale.
Seule critique : comme beaucoup de biographiques, ce roman fait parfois un peu trop l'éloge de son personnage principal.

[Raph Meatrunks · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'ascension des trois plus grands seigneurs feodaux du Japon romancee par un auteur extraordinaire. Oda Nobunaga plus charismatique que jamais, une aventure dynamique rythmee par de nombreuses informations et anecdotes sur le Japon de l'epoque.

[Albertine · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'histoire du Japon au temps des samouraïs....renversant!