The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps: The Bloody Battles and Intrigues of the Shinsengumi

by Romulus Hillsborough

MP3 CD Format

The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps tells the thrilling story of the Shinsengumi--the legendary corps of Samurai warriors tasked with keeping order in Kyoto during the final chaotic years of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868).

This book recounts the fascinating tales of political intrigue, murder, and mayhem surrounding the fearsome Shinsengumi,

● The infamous slaughter at Ikidaya Inn where, after learning of a plan to torch the city, a group of Shinsengumi viciously attacked and killed a group of anti-Tokugawa plotters

● The bloody assassination of Serizawa Kamo, the Shinsengumi leader, under highly suspicious circumstances

● The final tumultuous battles of the civil war in which the Shinsengumi fought and died in a series of doomed last stands

Genres: Japan, Asia

1 pages, Audio CD

Published August 10, 2021

About the author

Romulus Hillsborough is a leading Western authority on the samurai and the political upheaval that reshaped Japan in the nineteenth century. His fascination with the era spans more than four decades, including sixteen years living in Japan, where he conducted research and traveled around the country to get a real feeling for the cities and provinces where his samurai subjects lived and died as the revolution unfolded.

He is the author of several acclaimed books on the era, including Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Seen Through the Eyes of the Shogun’s Last Samurai, Samurai Assassins, and Samurai Swordsmen: The Definitive History of the Shinsengumi amid the Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1863–1869). His books have been published in nine languages and have been praised for their narrative style, historical accuracy, and cultural insight.

His two forthcoming books from Helion & Company, Samurai Swordsmen (2026), an in-depth and complete study of “the shogun's last samurai corps,” and the revised and expanded edition of Samurai Revolution (2027), offer contrasting perspectives on the revolution that brought an end to the age of the samurai. The new edition of Samurai Revolution incorporates material not included in the first edition, drawing on subsequent research and analysis of journals, letters, memoirs, and other primary sources to chronicle the revolution largely from the perspective of the victorious side. Samurai Swordsmen, meanwhile, focuses on the defeated side from the perspective of the Shinsengumi, a police force organized in the spring of 1863 to guard the shogun, quell sedition, and restore law and order in the Imperial Capital of Kyoto during the upheaval of the 1860s. As such, these two books complement each other to present a comprehensive account of this most volatile era in Japanese history.

Reviews

[Raz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haven't read a historical non fiction in so long. I enjoyed reading about the Shinsengumi since I have been interested in them for ages now. I do like that it doesn't romanticize them as much like other media. Glad to have read it.

[Cecil K.Cainhurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

,,,ive been crying so much,,,,i think im gonna throw up.
The beautiful wording of this book coupled with the tragic story of the shinsengumi ,,,,,
Sobbing