Samurai Armour: Volume I: The Japanese Cuirass (General Military)

Wow’ just wow! I make armor as an hobby and had been looking for a book that would have detailed information on Japanese armor and believe me this is the book. Everything you would want to know about Japanese armor is in this book! This is not a light read, this book is for those who really want to know the nuts and bolts of Japanese armor construction. Beautifully illustrated, containing high quality color photos with descriptions. Well worth the money! I would highly recommend this book!

Very interesting book

I was hugely impressed with this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a work of considerable scholarship but written in clear and accessible English. It has been structured thoughtfully, both in terms of following the chronology of armour development and in terms of understanding the various components and materials in a logical order. The encyclopaedic text its very well illustrated with a gallery of exquisite photographs and Osprey have produced an extremely handsome volume on high quality paper that is a pleasure to handle. It has the look and feel of a high-end art book and yet is of a size that makes for comfortable desktop study. By focussing on the do, the author is able not only to enter into great detail but also able to maintain a narrative of development without tangent. It just oozes authority and is undoubtedly the best work in English on the subject, one that will satisfy even the most knowledgeable enthusiast as well as those new to the subject. Highly recommended.

Lots of good information. If you have any interest in Japanese armor, you will treasure this book.

I bought this book as resource for replicating Japanese armor for SCA heavy weapons fighting. While the book does not directly deal with SCA specific construction, there is enough detail on historical construction of Japanese armor to make this book very worthwhile. Used in conjunction with Anthony Bryant's Sengoku Daimyo web page, this is your guide to making Japanese armor that will have you looking more authentic than 90% of the other bushi on the field. It should also be noted that the author originally intended to collaborate with Anthony Bryant on this book, before his passing. Indeed this book is dedicated to Tony's memory.

This book is for the very serious collector of Japanese armor, or even simply someone who wants to know more about that specific part of an armor, that is, the cuirass. In fact whoever acquires this will know more about the japanese cuirass then from any other source published in English, and this is not a hyperbole. Well researched, well written and the photographs are very good.

Wow what a deep compilation on a subject shrouded in so much mystery. There are very few books on Japanese armor (at least in English) the ones there are have usually less than a blurb with any actual useful information. This is about as complete as there is. I can’t wait for the second book that covers the rest of the armor since this one focuses on the do. Also the book quality itself is superb looks great on the shelf

The illustrations are too small, though the book is very informative, has a lot of texts and explanations. Would recommend for historical studies, not for artists that look for inspiration and references.

This is a very detailed book looking at every part of the cuirass. There are great photos and diagrams helping to illustrate the points made. The only downside to this book is that there is no volume 2 as of yet. If you are interested in the samurai and their equipment you must have this book.

Es un libro magnífico que explica con gran detalles como eran las armaduras de los samuráis y como era la vida y las guerras de estos míticos guerreros. El libro está muy bien editado, como son en general los libros de esta editorial.

Erg mooi en informatief boek. Auteur heeft er duidelijk verstand van, het boek zelf leest erg prettig. Alhoewel het wel jammer is dat er geen Nederlandse vertaling van is.

Magnífico, completo, no entiendo que pasó con el Volumen II...

Wow this book is a great book for anyone interested in Samurai armour. Highly recommend this book.