In the Service of the Shogun
Cryns, Frederik
A gripping biography of the English ship pilot who would become one of the most influential Westerners in feudal Japan. In 1600, English helmsman William Adams washed ashore in Japan and was interrogated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan's most powerful warlord and soon-to-be shogun. Far from executing Adams as a pirate, Ieyasu made him one of his most trusted advisers. This biography traces Adams's rise from a humble pilot to a position of immense in...